Year 1: The Utterly Despicable Stone
by Silvermoon42
Summary: Hitsugaya Toshiro is sent to the world of Harry Potter to observe. What happens and how does he react to the adventures of the Golden Trio? Read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, everyone. This is a Bleach/Harry Potter crossover. There are a few things you should know before reading it.**

 **1\. As I'm writing this, I have the first Harry Potter book next to me (literally, I'm not lying) and I'm using it for research (because people take these things seriously *cough* sarcasm *cough*).**

 **2\. This is set (for Bleach) after Aizen is defeated. For Harry Potter, the first book. So, no spoilers after, but there may be spoilers for things leading up to these points. You have been warned.**

 **Disclaimer: All credit goes to Tite Kubo and J.K. Rowling. Seriously, those two are awesome!**

"Talking"

 _Thinking_

 _"Talking to/from zanpakuto"_

 ** _"Talking in Japanese"_**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **In Soul Society**

It was a typical summer day in Soul Society. The birds were singing, the clear sky was a deep blue, and the sun was shining. Everything was peaceful; Shinigami were doing their duties, and for once there were no immediate enemies or battles to fight. All was peaceful.

Despite all that, Hitsugaya Toshiro was miserable.

The sun was shining. That miserable, awful, cruel ball of fire _sneering_ down at him. How he wanted to freeze it over. It would make him quite a bit happier and feeling less like he was melting.

It was on days like this when the temperatures climbed into triple digits that his squad started actively avoiding him. They all knew how grumpy and irritable he grew in the heat, so they decided that the best course of action would be to simply not be around him. He found it a mixture of amusing and annoying. After all, he was their _Captain_. They couldn't avoid him forever. That didn't stop them from trying.

And so, on these miserably hot days, Toshiro found that there were only a few ways to deal with the heat. 1. Try to ignore it. 2. Stay home and try not to disembowel or otherwise harm anyone. 3. Freeze whatever room he was in and hope for the best.

Right now, he chose the third option.

On this hot day, he was sitting in his office as usual, doing paperwork like usual, yelled at his Vice-Captain like usual, and was in Shikai. Not usual. The considerably smaller and less destructive ice dragon was curled around the edges of the office, and most of the room was covered in a thin layer of ice. The only exceptions were the desks, chairs, couches, doors, and a path on the floor leading to the desks and out the door. Perfect.

The first few times he had done this, people had flocked to his office to enjoy the cold. He soon grew tired of this and steadily lowered the the temperature until it was far below freezing and they had to flee unless they wanted frostbite. The only ones he allowed to stay were Rangiku Matsumoto, Rukia Kuchiki, and work related people. He only allowed Rukia because he knew that she did as well in the heat as well as he did. Which was, to say, terrible.

He also became very reluctant to leave the office, as the heat would hit him like a speeding train, and so was understandably irritated when a Hell Butterfly fluttered in, chiming happily. He narrowed his eyes, and Hyourinmaru lifted his large icy head in response to his thoughts. _"Shall I destroy it, master?"_ he asked.

 _"No,"_ Toshiro silently sighed, and lifted a hand for it to land on. _"Maybe I won't have to get up."_

"Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro of the Tenth Division is to report to Head-Captain Yamamoto's office immediately."

The butterfly took off, as if aware of his sudden desire to kill.

With a sigh, Toshiro stood and strapped his sword to his back, returning it to it's sealed form as he did so. Luckily the ice would remain for some time. Deciding to get it over with as fast as he could, he shunpoed to the first, and knocked on the door before being called in. He bowed briefly before the desk and the Head-Captain. "You called me," he said politely.

"Yes, I did. Thank you for coming. I know how much you dislike the heat." His voice held some sympathy, and Toshiro suddenly wondered if the Head-Captain didn't like winter. If so, that was sad. Incredibly sad.

"It is nothing, sir."

"Yes. I have a mission for you. Here is the file." Toshiro stepped forward and accepted the thick file. "It will be long. You are to go to the world of the living; England, specifically, to a school of magic."

Toshiro lifted one white eyebrow. "Magic, sir?" He couldn't hold back the disbelief in his voice.

"Yes." The Head-Captain nodded. "The local Shinigami witnessed a mortal casting what he could only describe as a 'spell.' Your mission is to find out whether or not these wizards are a threat to us or not."

"Yes, sir." Toshiro said this, but his tone made it clear that he had an opinion, but was unsure whether or not to voice it. Head-Captain Yamamoto picked up on it.

"What is it?"

"How is it that we haven't noticed these wizards before?"

"The wizarding community is very good at keeping their existence a secret. Apparently not even the normal humans are aware of them."

"Sir."

"One more thing." At this, Yamamoto made sure he had eye contact. "This mission will span the entire school year."

"A year!" Toshiro's first thought was an image of his office literally overflowing with the uncompleted paperwork Rangiku undoubtedly wouldn't do. "But sir, why-"

"There is no better way to learn about a society than to attend its school. Thus, you will pose as a transfer student from Japan. However, you can come back for holidays."

"Yes, sir. When do I leave?"

Just as he said this, a brown owl flew in, circling Toshiro and dropping its letter at his feet before flying away. Curious, Toshiro picked it up and discovered that it was a thick envelope of yellowish parchment, and words written in emerald green ink. It took him a moment to adjust, as they were written in English.

 **Mr. T. Hitsugaya**

 **First Division**

 **Office**

 **Seiretei**

 **Soul Society**

Toshiro frowned, more than slightly uncomfortable with how accurate the address was. He glanced up at the Head-Captain, who said, "That is from the wizard school. You are to leave tomorrow morning at eight am from the main Senkaimon. The details are in your mission folder. Read them today."

"Yes, sir." He shifted the folder and envelope to his left hand, and bowed. "If that is all, then I shall go and start reading."

"That is all. Good luck."

"Thank you." With that, Toshiro left.

* * *

As soon as her Captain left, Matsumoto called in all her drinking friends, and they rushed over to enjoy a cold room and some sake. They were just getting into the swing of things when the door slid open, and a loud, angry voice yelled, "GET OUT!"

The traitors left her to face the fury of her Captain alone. She stood, swaying a little, and squashed him in a hug. "How was the meeting, Captain?" she asked, trying to distract him. Once he fought free, he glared at her.

"Just because I leave to the meeting does not mean I won't be coming back. Don't host sake parties in here."

"Yes, Captain," she sighed, then caught sight of the papers in his hand. "What are those? You got sent on a mission?"

"Yes," he said grumpily, making his way over to his desk. "It lasts for a year, so _no_ parties, and _do your work_ while I'm gone! You'll be the one running the division and I won't be around to do the paperwork."

"Oh!" She slumped down onto the couch, peering over the back with a depressed expression. "But Captain-"

"There's nothing I can do about it, so shut up!"

She groaned and flopped back with a flamboyant sigh.

* * *

Toshiro opened the envelope first and read the letter.

 **HOGWARTS SCHOOL**

 ** _of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY**

 **Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore**

 _ **(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,**_

 _ **Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)**_

 **Dear Mr. Hitsugaya,**

 **We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**

 **Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.**

 **Yours sincerely,**

 **Minerva McGonagall,**

 ** _Deputy Headmistress_**

On the next page was a list of extremely weird objects.

 **UNIFORM**

 **First-year students will require:**

 **1.** **Three sets of plain work robes (black)**

 **2.** **One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear**

 **3.** **One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)**

 **4.** **One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)**

 **Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags**

 **COURSE BOOKS**

 **All students should have a copy of the following:**

 ** _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_ by Miranda Goshawk**

 ** _A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot**

 ** _Magical Theory_ by Adalbert Waffling**

 ** _A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration_ by Emeric Switch**

 ** _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Phyllida Spore**

 ** _Magical Drafts and Potions_ by Arsenius Jigger**

 ** _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scamander**

 ** _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ by Quentin Trimble**

 **OTHER EQUIPMENT**

 **1 wand**

 **1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)**

 **1 set glass or crystal phials**

 **1 telescope**

 **1 set brass scales**

 **Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad**

 **PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS**

Toshiro's first thought was: _Who would want a toad?_

* * *

The next day, at eight am, Toshiro was standing in front of the Senkaimon wearing a gigai, human clothes, and with a trunk and Rangiku. She said she wanted to see him off, but he knew she just wanted to give him another terrifying hug. And so she did.

After pulling away, he gave her a stern look. "Do your paperwork while I'm gone."

She rolled her eyes and made a dismissive gesture. "Yeah, sure. Try to make some friends while you're there, and have fun!"

He gave her a glare, but she ignored it. "Matsumoto..."

She turned to him and had a strange expression on her face. "Be careful Captain, all right?"

Caught off guard, he nodded. "Of course. You too."

She nodded and waved while he walked into the Senkaimon. As soon as he disappeared, Rangiku turned and triumphantly whispered, "Sake party!"

* * *

 **So, what did you think? Please let me know.**

* * *

 **9/8/15 Edit - I would like to thank Leafdapple3 for pointing out a mistake with the letter. It's greatly appreciated. I fixed it and a few other minor things. Also, the updates should be every Tuesday and Friday night.**

* * *

 **Happy reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi again!**

"Talking"

 _Thinking_

 _"Talking to/from zanpakuto"_

 **"Talking in Japanese"**

 **You know if you misspell a word or it doesn't recognize a name or something and it gets that red line underneath? I find it funny that Hogwarts doesn't have one underneath.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Harry Potter. That honor goes to J.K. Rowling and Tite Kubo.**

 **Just so you know, I will use curse words occasionally in this. Not often, but they're there. Don't worry though; they aren't too bad.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

When Toshiro stepped out of the Senkaimon, he found that he was in a small alley. Well, that makes sense. The humans would freak if they saw someone suddenly appear. Heh. That was tempting.

Once out of the alley, he looked around. It looked like a completely normal London street, with crowds of people, passing cars, and bustling shops. Normal. Silently doubting the existence of this wizarding world, he started up the street, looking for a pub called 'The Leaky Cauldron'. Really. What a terrible name.

The pub was so off from what he was expecting that he walked past it three times. On the fourth, he finally looked up and saw the creaking sign, stared a minute at the dingy exterior, then pushed open the door and went in.

He really shouldn't have been surprised at the interior, but he still took a moment to study the place. It was dark, rather shabby, and something he would not normally visit. There were tables and chairs spread throughout the room, stairs in the back, and a bar to the left. There were a few people in the room; some old women sat in the corner drinking something odd, and one was smoking a long pipe, a little man in a top hat was sitting in front of the counter talking to the bartender, who leaned over the counter to look at Toshiro.

"Somethin' you need?" He spoke with an accent, and his voice was not what you'd call friendly.

Brushing aside the man's tone, Toshiro went up the counter. "I'd like a room for a week."

"You 'ave money to pay for it?" He looked Toshiro over, lingering on his hair, and Toshiro could almost hear his thoughts. He scowled.

"Of course." He reached into the pouch the 12th had made, which stored an almost limitless amount of their money: Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. He payed for the room, and the bartender placed a key on the counter.

"Second floor, third door on the right."

"Thank you," Toshiro said stiffly, and made his way up to his room. Inside was a large four-poster bed, a dresser, nightstand, and a grungy window. Toushiro set his trunk beside his bed and sat down. It was not the most comfortable thing ever, but it would have to do. However, he sincerely doubted the cleanliness. After a moment of laying there, he got up, locked his door, and went back downstairs. He ordered tea and sat at a table in the corner to wait.

Just after the bartender set down his cup and returned behind the counter, the door opened, and in walked a giant of a man. He was probably three times Toshiro's height, had a wild beard, and beetle-black eyes. He moved aside, and a small boy with black hair, glasses, and green eyes entered. He looked around the room, but stayed close by the man's side.

When they entered, the chatter stopped, with most people waving to the man, and the bartender reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?" His voice was considerably warmer than what he had used with Toshiro.

The giant man, now identified as Hagrid, shook his head and put a hand on the boy's shoulder; the boy looked like he almost fell. "Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business."

"Good Lord," the bartender - Tom - said, peering at the boy. "Is this - can this be-"

By now, everyone in the Leaky Cauldron had stilled and silenced.

"Bless my soul," the bartender whispered, voice almost reverent. "Harry Potter...what an honor."

Toshiro watched in confusion as everyone in the pub swarmed the poor boy, who looked just as confused as he felt. They shook his hand, pushed to talk to him, and swarmed him. Most were smiling, and he saw a few tears in some eyes. Who exactly was this boy?

Eventually the giant intervened, steering Harry out of the crowd and towards the back door. "Must get on - lots ter buy," he was saying. "Come on, Harry."

After the pair left, the pub was still buzzing, and curiosity finally got the better of him. Toshiro wound his way up to the bar, and got the bartender's attention. "Who were those two?"

Tom looked at him with great shock and confusion - maybe a little indignation. "You don't know who Harry Potter is?!"

The pub silenced again, this time with everyone staring at him. Toshiro shifted uncomfortably. "I'm from Japan, and I'm attending Hogwarts this year. I just got here."

Tom scoffed in disbelief and shook his head. "The big man was Hagrid from Hogwarts, and the boy was Harry Potter." He said the name in a hush, and Toshiro gestured for him to go on. "The Boy Who Lived! The one who defeated You-Know-Who! The only one to survive the Killing Curse!"

Toshiro's eyes narrowed. That was a lot for an eleven-year old; for that was the age a first-year entered Hogwarts. That was in his notes, but this wasn't. "Who is You-Know-Who?"

The bartender stiffened, and he got the feeling it was a very bad man. "You-Know-Who was a dark wizard who killed hundreds of wizards many years ago. No one could stop him, and everyone feared him. He was the Dark Lord. He was unbeatable, until he tried to kill Harry Potter." His voice lowered to a whisper, as if telling a ghost story. "No one really knows what happened that night, but the only one to survive was a babe with a scar." He pointed to his forehead. "You-Know-Who disappeared, and we've 'ad peace ever since."

He let that sink in for a moment. "What was his name - or is that it?"

Tom's eyes darkened, and he leaned down onto the bar. "We don't say his name. But, if you're goin' to be living here, you should know about it so you don't go 'round sayin' it. His name was Voldemort." Here his voice dropped so low that Toshiro had to strain to hear it. "Don't expect me to repeat it again. It's not something we like to talk about."

Toshiro nodded. "Thank you for the information." Feeling that he'd gotten all he would out of the bartender, he went back to his seat and his tea.

* * *

After finishing his tea, Toshiro went out to get his school supplies, and ran into a momentary problem when he found a dead end. He'd ended up asking Tom for help, and stared in amazement when the bricks folded away to an arch, revealing a bright and noisy street behind. Tom tucked away his wand and chuckled. "Get's all the first-timers'."

The street, which was apparently called Diagon Alley, was filled with witches and wizards, shops and stores, and it was overwhelming for a minute. Toshiro finally stabilized himself and plunged in. The first thing he got was his uniform. Entering a shop he figured was the correct one - a 'Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions' - he met a small (yet still taller than him) witch dressed in all a pale purple.

"First year of Hogwarts?" He nodded, scowling. She ignored it and led to the back, had him stand on a stool, and started taking his measurements. "First-years get smaller every year," she murmured, smile never dropping, not even when the room temperature dropped.

"Calm, master," Hyourinmaru said. "You're posing as a student, so they're going to assume you are young."

"Yes, but she doesn't have to keep making references to my height!" He resisted the urge to take a breath, as he assumed the woman wouldn't appreciate it.

Hyourinmaru stayed wisely silent, and the temperature slowly returned to normal.

Once Madam Malkin gave him all his robes and he paid, he left the store and immediately started for his next, the quills, parchment, ink, etc. At least once he bought his cauldron he had something to put everything in. He bought his books in a library-like store called 'Flourish and Botts', except that it was loud, crowded, kids were running everywhere, and books were fitting themselves onto the shelves. In short - utter chaos.

That terrifying ordeal finally ended, and he rounded up some other stuff from the Apothecary, then remembered one of his instructions in the file. He was to get an owl so he could contact Soul Society if for some reason his soul phone broke. So, he headed over to the shop.

It was warm in there, but not uncomfortable, and had the unmistakable scent of animals. There were cages lining the walls full of owls, cats, toads, mice, snakes, frogs, and other even stranger animals. He ambled around for a while, then a stripped owl hooted and caught his eye. It was small, mostly white with light brown horizontal stripes around its neck and darker vertical stripes on its chest. It had dark gray eyes that followed his every movement.

"A barred owl, or hoot owl," a voice said, startling him. He looked to see that it was the manager of the shop. He nodded towards the owl. "Loyal, eats pretty much anything, hardworking, intelligent. Small for her kind, but she's a good choice."

"Well, I need an owl," Toshiro said. "Would this one be good at delivering letters and packages and such?"

"Yes. They only give its load to its intended recipient - although all should do that. Like I said, she's hardworking and loyal."

"I'll take her, then."

He paid, and the shopkeeper went over the care of the owl, then the registration. "What are you going to call her?" His pen hovered over the paper.

A name...Toshiro studied the owl, who was watching him with large steel-gray eyes. "Hyourinmaru, any ideas?"

The dragon stirred. "What about Snowball?"

"No."

"Frostbite?"

"No."

"Shorty?"

"Would you stop describing me, please?" Then he realized what he had just said, and the dragon roared with laughter. "Oh, shut up!"

The ice-dragon snorted and stilled, thinking seriously. "Daffodil."

"Huh?"

"It's the symbol of your division."

"Yes, but I'm not humiliating the thing by calling it a flower."

"Fine...Athena."

"Athena..." Toshiro pondered it. A Greek goddess whose symbol was an owl. Athena was the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy...it fit. Realizing the shopkeeper was waiting for an answer, Toshiro gave his choice.

Toshiro walked out with a cauldron of supplies in one hand, and an owl cage in the other. Athena hooted proudly.

"Right, last thing on the list's a wand..." He looked around.

It took some searching, but he finally found a shop called 'Ollivanders'. Over the door was fine lettering in fading gold print. 'Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.' Place's older than the Head-Captain, Toshiro thought, pushing open the door. Hyourinmaru snorted. Inside was old, dusty, and behind a counter were two rows of shelves which held long thin boxes.

A bell on the door rang when it closed, and a man appeared from the dark corners of the store. He was old and spindly, with gray hair and almost silver eyes. "Good afternoon," he said, and Toshiro set down his things.

"I'm looking for a wand."

"First-year?"

"Yes."

The man came forward, almost uncomfortably close. "You are unlike anyone else I have ever met." Toshiro stilled, but the man continued. "You are foreign, judging from your accent and appearance. Where, exactly, are you from?"

"Japan."

The man blinked his pale eyes and flicked a wand that he took from his pocket. "I am Ollivander. And you?"

"Toshiro Hitsugaya," he answered, correcting himself for these peoples' custom of saying their surname last.

Ollivander nodded. "Which is your wand arm?" Toshiro didn't quite know what he meant, so he answered with his dominant hand, and a tape measure suddenly started measuring his hand, arm, fingers, chest, height, and various other odd things. As it did so, Ollivander disappeared into the back, reappearing with several boxes in his arms. Lowering them to the counter, he opened one. "Every wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Hitsugaya. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons most commonly." At this, Toshiro stiffened and Hyourinmaru rumbled angrily. "No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

"You use dragon heartstring?" Hitsugaya asked coldly, eyeing the wand proffered.

"Every material is given freely by the creature," Ollivander said. "In the case of dragon heartstrings, we take them just after the dragon dies. Otherwise, their magical power would fail."

Both Shinigami and zanpakuto reassured, he took the wand, only for the old man to immediately snatch it back, muttering: "No, no. Here. Birch, phoenix tail feathers, 13 inches, swishy." Toshiro held the new one, unsure of what to do. Ollivander flicked his wrist. "Go on, give it a try."

With a small shrug, he flicked it - and the chair in the corner exploded into splinters. "Sorry, I can pa-"

"Pay it no mind. Try this - Rowan, 12 inches, sturdy, billywig stingers." When Toshiro waved it, the front windows exploded, and Ollivander took it back, shaking his head.

"No, that one will not do. Here."

For a long time, he kept handing him wands, and various things got shredded, slammed against walls, exploded, or torn. Toshiro was getting tired of it, but Ollivander seemed to be having more fun with each wand that was rejected. Finally, he went into the back carrying a single box, and opened it to reveal a silver wand with swirling blue carvings.

"I think this will do. Elder wood, dragon heartstrings, springy, 10 inches." When Toshiro picked it up, he felt a small amount of reiatsu embedded within it, and it reminded him of his own. Hyourinmaru growled in agreement, and the wand cooled in his hand. Snowflakes spun out of the tip when he waved it. Looking over, Ollivander was grinning and clapped his hands. "That's the one! I've got to say, that was fun. It is a good wand - take care of it."

After paying, he left the shop and headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to pack and start studying.

* * *

Over the next week, Toshiro spent much time in his room reading his text books, usually fascinated by the topics. Transfiguration seemed especially interesting, as it was changing one thing to another, and magical history seemed likely to bore him to death, but it was necessary if he wanted to study this society. The day before he was due to leave to Hogwarts, he had finished all of the books, and was trying out some of the spells. It was very interesting to make things float around the room, and he had great fun with that.

The bartender grew warmer to him over time, usually bringing him a cup of tea whenever he went down to the main floor. It seemed the man took a bit to like people, but once he did, he remembered you.

Toshiro was not sorry about leaving Diagon Alley; it was too noisy and flashy for him, and there were too many people staring at his strange-colored hair. He preferred to stay in his room and bond with Athena, whom he grew attached to. She was generally quiet, but greeted him with a soft hoot whenever he entered the room.

He made a couple reports to Soul Society, giving details on what had happened and about the books and their information. The 12th division was most interested in his wand, but he didn't know when they would give it back, so he sent some pictures of the books to them instead. They would just have to deal.

When the day came for him to leave, Toshiro lugged his trunk and birdcage down the steps, and asked Tom how to get to the train station. The bartender called him a bus, which Toshiro got in somewhat reluctantly. It was a double-decker, red, and fast. It zoomed around corners, traffic, and even once squeezed to get in between two buses. Terrifying. He got off as soon as he could, and had barely stepped off when the doors slammed behind him and it disappeared. Shaking his head, he entered the train station.

Looking at his ticket, it said platform 9 and 3/4's, but that simply didn't exist. There was a station 9, a station 10, and several brick walls in between, but no...seriously? These were wizards he was dealing with - was it possible that they had enchanted the platform? As it turned out, yes. Yes they had.

He stood somewhere between 9 and 10, and watched as various witches and wizards ran through a brick wall. That was just...freaky. Also, how did the normal humans not notice? There were people walking through walls here and not one took notice or even looked over. They must have been dumber than he thought.

Toshiro was just about to step forward and go through when he saw a large, red family approach the brick wall. They had to be a family - with their red hair, there was nothing else they could be. There were the parents, four boys, and a young girl. All had trunks with them except for the parents and the girl, so he decided that she was too young to attend Hogwarts.

"Now, what's the platform number?" the mother asked.

"Nine and three-quarters," they youngest child immediately answered from her place holding her mother's hand. "Mom, can't I go..."

"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first." The oldest boy nodded and stepped quickly and confidently through the wall. The plump woman turned to the next oldest - who also looked like twins. "Fred, you next."

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said one of the teens. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"

"Sorry, George, dear."

The twin smirked and aimed his cart. "Only joking, I am Fred," he said before running through. His twin followed soon after. Toshiro was about to step forward when someone beat him to it.

"Excuse me," said a quiet voice. Everyone turned to face him. Toshiro was surprised to find that it was the black-haired, green-eyed boy from the Leaky Cauldron: Harry Potter. The one that was famous. The Boy-Who-Lived. He didn't really look like much.

He was tall but thin, his black hair flopped into his eyes, and his glasses appeared to be tapped together. His shoulders were slightly hunched, and he was gripping his cart with a white-knuckled grip. The plump ginger woman turned to face him with a sympathetic look on her face.

"Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too." She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall and gangling, with a splash of freckles, long limbs, and a protruding nose. He also sported the family-red hair, and had a smudge of dirt on the side of his nose. Really, that thing was so prominent, it was impossible to miss the dirt.

"Yes," said Harry. "The thing is - the thing is, I don't know how to-"

"How to get onto the platform?" the woman finished kindly, and the boy nodded. "Not to worry. All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."

"Er - okay," Harry mumbled. He aimed his cart and started out first as a walk, then a trot, then a full-out run, and Toshiro saw him squeeze his eyes closed. Really? You just saw a mother send three sons through the wall; did you really expect it would harm you?

Once the boy disappeared, the big-nosed one went through, then the parents and the young girl. Then he was the only one left, aimed his cart, and calmly walked through the brick wall.

The other side was an explosion of noise and people. There was a train to his left, and a sign above said Platform Nine and three-quarters. The clock below indicated it was almost ten o'clock. Behind him, the brick wall had changed to a wrought-iron archway with the platform name on it.

Steering his cart through the milling crowd, he passed a boy who was whining about losing a toad - someone actually bought a toad? - a boy showing off something in a box to a group of young boys, and the family of red-heads. Finally reaching the train, he lugged his trunk and birdcage on board, then found an empty compartment and stored the trunk on a shelf above and set Athena's cage on the seat. With a sigh, he sat, and stared disinterestedly out the window. Soon, however, chaos invaded his compartment.

The red-headed twins came in, and looked at him. "Mind if someone joins you? Everywhere is's full." Toshiro waved a disinterested hand, and they tucked the trunk onto the shelf. The black-haired boy entered the compartment, glanced at Toshiro, and faced the twins.

"Thanks." He pushed sweaty hair back from his face, and the twins gaped in astonishment.

"What's that?" one asked, pointing at something on Harry's forehead. Toshiro leaned to the side and saw a lightning-shaped scare on Harry's forehead.

"Blimey," the other twin said. "Are you-?"

"He is," the first said, then added: "Aren't you?"

"What?"

"Harry Potter," they said in unison. Harry blinked.

"Oh, him. I mean, yes, I am."

They continued to gape at him until their mother calling for them distracted them and they left. Harry sat at the window opposite Toshiro and sighed. "Hi," he said.

"Hello," Toshiro answered, watching with slight amusement as the red-headed mother attempted to clean the smudge of dirt off the long-nosed boy, Ron. He struggled, and the twins mocked him. Then the oldest boy approached them, already in his black Hogwarts robes, with the addition of a silver badge of the letter P. He said something about a perfect compartment, then the twins started mocking him, finishing each other's sentences in a slightly fascinating and annoying way. The mother kissed him on the cheek and he left, then turned and started threatening the twins about owls, exploding toilets, then the topic suddenly changed to Harry Potter. Toshiro saw movement from the corner of his eye and saw that Harry leaned away from the window.

When he turned back, the mother was telling off the twins, about that oh-so-scary You-Know-Who. Then the whistle sounded, and she bustled them onto the train. As the train started, slowly rolling, the youngest daughter - Ginny - was keeping pace, laughing and crying and waving to her brothers. Then it gathered more speed, and it left the station behind. Houses started flashing by, and the door compartment soon opened and the youngest, long-nosed red-head appeared.

"Anyone here?" he asked, pointing at the bench beside Toshiro, but clearly addressing Harry. "Everywhere else is full." Harry shook his head, and the boy sat, looking out the window but glancing at Harry.

"Hey, Ron." Toshiro looked to see the annoying twins were back. "Listen, we're going down the middle of the train - Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right," Ron mumbled.

"Harry, did we introduce ourselves?" the other twin asked. "Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later then." The two younger boys called a 'bye' as the twins closed the door behind them. After a moment of silence, Ron blurted out a question about if Harry really was Harry Potter. The boy shifted uncomfortably before nodding and showing him his scar. They then went into a conversation about wizards, green lights, and families. Harry seemed to think Ron knew a lot of magic already, and Ron seemed to believe that living with a household of six siblings was completely and utterly miserable - which could be true, judging by what he'd seen of them. Ron then introduced his pet rat as Scabbers, and Harry his snowy owl named Hedwig. Soon after, an old lady with a cart full of candy came around; Ron produced a mushy-looking sandwich, and Harry bought as much candy as he could carry. Toshiro could smell all the sweets, and shook his head, looking out the window. No doubt the sandwich would be long forgotten.

"Would you, uh, like some?" the black-haired boy asked, startling Toshiro. He'd honestly thought they'd forgotten him.

"No thank you," he declined, and Ron frowned.

"You 'ave an accent," he said through a mouthful of sweets. Toshiro scowled at the disgusting sight, and nodded.

"I'm from Japan."

"'ame to Hogwarts to learn?"

"Yes, I have."

"Is that your real hair color?" Luckily he swallowed before speaking this time. Toshiro, still scowling, nodded. "It makes you look old."

"Thank...you..." Toshiro said, unsure of how to respond. He wasn't normally called 'old'. Ever.

"Wasn't a compliment, mate."

"Your English is good," Harry said, looking away from the sight of Ron devouring a box of...beans.

"I was required to learn to speak it. I have known how to for many years." Well, decades, but they didn't need to know that.

They were about to say something when Harry opened a box, and a brown frog jumped out and onto the window. Toshiro immediately leaned away, then stared in fascination as it looked like...chocolate?

"Ah, it got away," Ron groaned as the frog-not-frog jumped out the window. "They only really have one good jump in them."

Toshiro tuned them out after that. Wizards.

Hyourinmaru snorted in agreement.

After a while, the door slid open, and a teary-faced boy stood there. He was rather round and looking pathetic. "Sorry, but have you seen a toad at all?"

Now Toshiro recognized him. He was the boy that was complaining about losing a toad on the platform. Poor boy. I mean, who would want to lose a toad?

They shook their heads, and the boy started wailing and left. Then Ron tried to cast a spell on his rat to no effect, a girl with bushy brown hair, a bossy tone, rather large front teeth, and already in her Hogwarts robe popped her head in. "Have anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one." She introduced herself as Hermione Granger, they talked about school houses - which Toshiro actually paid attention to - they discussed a sport called Quidditch, and three boys entered.

The first and obviously the leader, a pale boy with very blond hair seemed to recognize Harry. The other two were large, muscle-bound bodyguards. The pale boy - Draco Malfoy - introduced them as Crabbe and Goyle. Unfortunate names.

Malfoy then proceeded to insult Ron, get insulted by Harry, make a threat, then disappear after Goyle got himself bitten by Ron's rat. It was quite amusing, actually, to see the big boy panicking and swinging his hand around to knock off the rat. They fled, and Hermione reappeared. She told them to change into their robes, then left again. Everyone appeared to have forgotten Toshiro - which suited him just fine.

A voice over the loudspeakers told them to leave their luggage on the train, and soon the train slowed to a stop. Standing, Toshiro adjusted his robes. They weren't what he was used to, but they were comfortable. Once off the train, a loud voice boomed out, calling all first-years to him. It was simple to identify him as Hagrid, and Toshiro waited silently as a large crowd gathered around the giant.

"You're the one from Japan, aren't ya?" He looked up to see that the giant had addressed the question to him, and nodded.

"Yes. My name is - as you say it - Toshiro Hitsugaya."

"Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Thank you."

After this was a short walk and boat ride, then they all got out. "Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" Hagrid pointed at something in a boat, and Neville happily rushed over.

"Trevor!" Toshiro resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Hagrid led them up the front steps of the castle and knocked three times on the door. Immediately, a tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes opened it. She had a stern yet kind face. "The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." She pulled the door open to let them in, and closed it behind them. They were in a huge space, with torches lighting it, and a marble staircase leading away. She led them to a smaller side room. "Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall said. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted in to your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slythering. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, and while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her sharp eyes scanned them, picking out individual aspects, such as Neville's cloak fastened incorrectly, Ron's dirty nose, and Toshiro's white hair. He scowled, but she moved on without saying anything. "I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly."

Harry then asked about how they were sorted, and Ron responded with telling him that it hurt a lot - but thought his brothers were just joking. Then, there were a few screams. Toshiro looked around, and his turquoise eyes widened in seeing about twenty ghosts stream through the walls. They appeared to be arguing about someone called 'Peeves' - another unfortunate name - when Professor McGonagall came back and told the ghosts to leave and the Sorting was about to start. Toshiro glared at the ghosts, noticing the lack of chains hanging from their chests, and decided that many konsos were needed.

They formed a line and filed into the Great Hall. There were four parallel tables facing one long table where all the teachers were sitting - including one old guy that reminded to Toshiro of Yamamoto - candles hanging in mid-air, and a ceiling that looked like the night sky. He glanced up at it, uncomfortable with the thought of it raining down on them. Seriously, why? There were golden plates and goblets on the tables, and all the rest of the students of the school were sitting at them, staring at the first-years. He knew many were staring at his hair. He walked with his chin up, looking ahead.

Finally they reached the front, and he saw a stool with an old hat on it. He heard Hermione whispering about the enchanted ceiling - what a relief - and his eyes widened in surprise when the hat suddenly came alive. A rip formed its mouth, and indents its eyes. It started to sing a song - rather long and boring - but he listened. It basically described the houses, and identified itself as the Sorting Hat. Then, McGonagall stepped forward with a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. After a moment's pause, the hat shouted: "HUFFLEPUFF!" The table on the right cheered, and Hannah went to sit with them.

"Bones, Susan!" Once again the hat shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Boot, Terry!" This time the hat screamed "RAVENCLAW!" and the boy joined the table second from the left.

'Brocklehurst, Mandy' was another Ravenclaw, but a 'Brown, Lavender' became the first Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers. 'Bulstrode, Millicent' became a Slytherin, and so on.

The list continued on, and Toshiro noticed that the hat took longer with some than others. Soon 'Granger, Hermione' was called, and she nervously went up and sat. It pronounced her a Gryffindor, and Ron groaned.

Soon after, Toshiro's name was called, with McGonagall surprisingly pronouncing it correctly. When Toshiro sat, he was unhappy to find that the hat slid right down over his eyes. Letting out a low growl, he was shocked to hear a voice speak in his mind.

"Hmm, a Shinigami. Can't say I've ever heard of one of you before. Are you-"

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MASTER'S MIND?!" a certain icy and angry dragon roared. Toshiro could hear the surprise in the hat's voice.

"There's another being in your soul? How fascinating! Do not fear, mighty being, but I am not going to harm your - master. I am merely going to look through his memories and decide what house he belongs in."

"You'd better not tell anyone what you see, or you are never going to speak again," Toshiro growled, letting the hat know that he meant it.

"I never reveal anything about the students to anyone, Toshiro."

"Hitsugaya."

"Very well, Hitsugaya." Toshiro could hear the amusement in the hat's voice.

"If you are going to look through my memories, it's going to take a while," the prodigy warned. "I have many."

And indeed, it did. Toshiro knew people were getting restless when the hat finally finished. "You have much strength and cunning...you would do well in Slytherin...But you are also very loyal, and Hufflepuff would gladly take you. You are considered a prodigy among your people, and Ravenclaw would fight for you. However, you have much courage and self-sacrifice, so you would make an excellent fit in Gryffindor...What to do, what to do..."

After a minute of quiet contemplation, the hat opened its mouth and yelled, for all to hear, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Toshiro pulled off the hat and briskly walked towards the cheering Gryffindors, sliding into a spot near Hermione. "That took forever!" she exclaimed. "What, were you arguing with it or something?"

Toshiro shook his head. "It went through my memories." And that was all he would say on the subject.

Neville was also chosen as a Gryffindor, Malfoy a Slytherin almost as soon as the hat touched his head, and when Harry's name was called, the whole school suddenly broke out in whispers. Apparently the whole world had heard of the boy. It took some time, but he was announced as a Gryffindor, and went to join an extremely noisy table. After a few more names, Ron was called and assigned to the Gryffindors. Finally everyone was called, and Dumbledore rose to his feet.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat to applause, and Toshiro heard Harry questioning his sanity. That was a good question.

Then the dishes in front of them were suddenly filled with food, and Toshiro surveyed it with mild disgust. There was so much...fried. It seemed they fried everything they could get their hands on. Luckily, he spotted several familiar foods and drinks, and gathered them. After a quick meal, he sat back with a cup of tea and listened. Some were talking about their parents and bloodlines, some were talking about lessons, and that sort of thing. Harry was having a conversation with a ghost, who wanted to be called Sir Nicholas de Mimsy instead of Nearly Headless Nick. Toshiro knew his pain.

Eventually the ghost moved on, and hovered before him. Well - in the table. "Who are you?" the ghost asked, yet there was a wariness in his voice that hadn't been present before.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya, as you say it." Toshiro sipped his tea. "Why haven't you moved on?"

The ghost shrugged, and his head wobbled. "Didn't want to."

"And you haven't discovered any unpleasant consequences for doing so?"

"No...other than I can't eat." The ghost looked longingly at the food. "It tasted so good..."

Toshiro grunted, wanting to preform a konso, but knew transforming into his soul form would create quite a stir. From what he'd felt, most of the witches and wizards had enough reiatsu to see him. That would make things infinitely more difficult. The ghost floated off, and soon the chatter silenced when Dumbledore stood. Apparently he was the Headmaster of this school.

He made a speech about the off-limits areas - making special note about a room on the third-floor corridor - banned items, and Quidditch trials. Then the school preformed the school song - which Toshiro absolutely refused to do - and sent them off to bed. Toshiro followed the flood of Gryffindors as they made their winding way up the school. He noticed that all of the painting's occupants were moving, and chalked it off as just more magic.

Ha. He was now classifying things as 'just more magic'. How quickly it grows old.

The prefect led them to a large portrait which contained a - plump lady in a pink dress who asked for a password. Percy replied with "Caput Draconis', and the portrait swung open. They walked through, and came into an atrociously hot room. Toshiro immediately glared at the offending fire, then Percy explained the dorm situations, and the boys and girls headed off to their respective rooms.

At the top of the tower, he found his bed along with four others, each a deep velvet with curtains around it. Thankfully, his was near one of the windows. Their trunks had been brought up, so each boy dressed and collapsed into bed. Toshiro drew the curtains around his, but not before noticing he shared a room with both Ron and Harry. What luck.

* * *

 **Well, that's it. How was it? Please let me know, I'd really appreciate it!**

 **So, I never knew there was meaning to what the wands were made of, how long they were, and all that until I looked it up. Honestly, I was surprised, but strangely happy. I love when fictional worlds go into such detail.**

 **Anyway, Toshiro's wand is elder wood since his birthday is December 20th, and elder goes from November 25 to December 22. I used dragon heartstrings - really because I couldn't resist - and it is a strong core. He's a captain, he's strong. I didn't really have any reason behind springy, and I used 10 inches to represent his squad. Yep. There was seriously no other reason.**

 **So, I'm strangely into this story, and depending on the reaction I get to this first story/book/year, I might do more. So, if you like this story, look out for more! (Again, this depends on how people feel about it. If everyone hates it, I'm obviously not going to do more.)**

 **Happy reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everybody! Hi Doctor Silvermoon42!**

 **Okay, ignore that if you want. It's a joke from a TV series, but if you don't get it, its fine. Its really quite sad. But just so you know, I'm in no way a real doctor. So if you ask me anything medical related, I won't know.**

 **Anyway.**

 **Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling and Tite Kubo are** ** _awesome_** **for creating Harry Potter and Bleach. Not me. Sadly. But seriously, round of applause for them. Never mind. Ignore me. I'm rambling.**

* * *

If Toshiro had to describe his first day of wizarding school with one word - and for some reason Soul Society wanted him to - he sent them this: #$%*&^ . But sadly they wanted an actual word, so he said: interesting. He liked his first much better.

When he went down into the common room, the fire was _still going_ , so he immediately lowered the temperature. He was the first one up, so he figured no one would mind. Even if they did, there wasn't much they could do about it.

After deciding he was hungry, he made his way down to the Great Hall, only to have a chair fly at his head. Ducking, he reached for a non-existent sword, then saw a ghost. Well, poltergeist. Peeves.

The thing flew over his head, cackling and threatening him. Toshiro gave him his best glare, which he'd been told once made a new recruit wet herself in fear. Oh, the memories. The ghost soon fled, and Toshiro _knew_ he'd be going on a konso spree soon.

In the Great Hall, he was the first one there, with the exception of Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. He nodded politely before pouring himself some tea and sitting down with a book. Not a textbook, just a regular book. McGonagall eventually came over and handed him his schedule, then left him to his reading. Eventually other students came in, and the Hall gradually filled with noise. When things started to get a bit much, he neatly slid his book into his bag and left.

Finding his classes was a bit of a challenge, but he managed to get to them all on time. Strangely, he found that he had all his classes with the Potter boy, Granger, and Weasely. Maybe it was because they were all in the same house...? In any case, both Harry and Ron managed to be late to almost every class, Toshiro discovered that Hermione was a bit of a show-off, and the History of Magic class was something you had to actively keep yourself awake in. Not that he didn't have a lot of experience in staying awake (the Head-Captain tended to drone on and on and on during Captain's meetings).

Toshiro mostly kept to himself during school, as most people tended to avoid him due to his hair and eye color. He was used to it, but it still annoyed him. The only people who didn't were Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The boys because they shared a dorm room, and the girl because she discovered they were both smarter than pretty much everyone else in their year.

The first time the mail came, it was quite a shock. About a hundred owls poured into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling and dropping letters and packages before their owners. Toshiro wasn't expecting anything, and so was surprised when Athena dropped a large rectangular package onto the table. Opening it cautiously, he discovered it was a large stack of unfinished paperwork.

 **"Matsumoto!"** Toshiro growled in Japanese, startling the Golden Trio, who leaned over to see what it was.

"It's...what is it?" Harry asked.

"Something a certain lazy someone is supposed to do but is probably out drinking sake instead." His explanation didn't seem to satisfy them.

"Why isn't it in English?" Ron said. Toshiro gave him a hard look - seriously, was he physically incapable of closing his mouth while eating?

"I'm from Japan. We write in Japanese there."

"Oh."

That Friday, he had double Potions with the Slytherin house. Everyone was saying that Professor Snape - the Slytherin head and Potions teacher - favored his house and seemed to have an inherent hatred of the Gryffindors. Wonderful.

It was true, the rumors. Potions took place down in the dungeons, which Toshiro was actually happy about. It was cool down there. Snape started class by taking roll, then giving a speech. "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he said. The whole class was silent. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses...I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Crickets. Literal crickets.

"Potter!" Snape suddenly snapped. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Hermione's hand immediately shot up, and while Toshiro didn't bother with trying to answer, he knew the correct one. Unlike Harry, it seemed. He glanced at Ron, who had an equally stumped expression.

"I don't know, sir," Harry said.

Snape sneered. "Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything. Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

 _Goat stomach,_ Toshiro thought. Hermione's hand was waving in the air, and Harry didn't know.

"I don't know, sir." At this point, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were shaking with laughter.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Toshiro suddenly didn't like the greasy-haired teacher. There was no need to pick on your students. "What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Hermione appeared to be having a panic attack, if her wildly waving hand was anything to go by. Harry shook his head and answered quietly. "I don't know, but I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"

A few people laughed, but Snape was not pleased. He snapped at Hermione to sit down, then told them that asphodel and wormwood make a powerful sleeping potion called the Draught of the Living Death; a bezoar is a stone from a goat's stomach and cures most poisons; and wolfsbane and monkshood are the same plant also called aconite. Everyone scrambled to jot this down, and Snape took a point from Gryffindor.

They then proceeded to get in pairs and mix a potion to cure boils. He criticized everyone but Malfoy - whom he obviously favored - and Neville's cauldron exploded green smoke and melted his cauldron. He had gotten splattered and was burned, so a boy called Seamus from Gryffindor took him to the hospital wing, and Snape deducted another point from Gryffindor because Harry hadn't told Neville not to add the porcupine quills before taking the thing off the fire.

Over at his station, Toshiro rolled his eyes. Whatever Harry had done to anger the Potion's teacher, he had done it spectacularly.

"No!" The soft cry made him freeze just before putting some gray juice into the cauldron. Hermione was frantically shaking her head.

"What?" Toshiro asked.

"Don't put them in now; we put them in _after_ stirring clockwise three times."

Frowning, Toshiro set down the juice and took up a stirring rod. "What would happen if we just put them in now?"

"I think it would produce a toxic cloud that would kill us all," Hermione said, thinking. Toshiro sighed. These wizards made everything so complicated. In the Soul Society, if they wanted a poisonous gas, they would just call Kurotshuchi and make him use Bankai. His creepy golden baby was perfect for the task of terrorizing people. One look at its round, bulbous face, and many would start running. Those few who survived this then faced blades coming out of its chin, and the worm-baby attempted to crush you. If _that_ wasn't enough to make you scream and split, then it spit out a thick purple poison.

Needless to say, Toshiro did not have a good perspective on babies because of this.

At the end of class when Snape came by to inspect their potions, he stopped at Toshiro's and Hermione's, studied their perfect concoction with a sneer, and moved silently on.

All in all - a good first week.

* * *

A poster in the Gryffindor common room announced that flying lessons would be taking place on Thursday. Toshiro thought it interesting, since his Bankai allowed him to fly. He was curious to see how badly the wizards had managed to mess it up. Unfortunately, they had the class with the Slytherins.

Thursday morning in the Great Hall, the mail came, and a large bag dropped before Toshiro. Attached was a letter from Captain Ukitake.

 **Hitsugaya,**

 **I hope you're enjoying school. Have some candy - it's watermelon flavored.**

 **Don't worry about your squad. It hasn't blown up yet.**

 **Have fun, and make some friends!**

 **Ukitake**

Sure enough, the large bag was full of candy. With a sigh, Toshiro fed Athena a strip of bacon, slid his reading book into his backpack, and stood. "Potter, Weasley, it's all yours."

The bag was soon decimated, and Toshiro walked away muttering in Japanese. **"It's a _mission_ , not a holiday. Why can't they understand that? And who told him I like watermelon?!"**

* * *

Flying lessons were...interesting, to say the least. They were taught on the lawns opposite the Forbidden Forest by a yellow-eyed teacher like a hawk. "Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up!"

Toshiro ended up besides Hermione, who looked very uncomfortable. He guessed this wasn't her forte. "Have you done this before?" he asked her. She shook her head, but then the lesson started.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch. "And say 'Up'!"

"UP!" Everyone shouted, with varying degrees of success. Toshiro's broom immediately jumped to his hand, as did Harry's. Malfoy's took two, and Hermione's simply rolled around on the ground. Neville's didn't move at all.

Madam Hooch told them to get on, and on her whistle, go up and down. However, by nerves or something else, Neville kicked off too soon, and shot up straight into the air. Terrified, he slid off his broom twenty feet to the ground below with a nasty sounding crack. Madam Hooch immediately took him to the hospital wing - threatening expulsion if anyone was on their brooms while she was gone.

Immediately once she left, an argument broke out between Harry and Malfoy, with Malfoy playing with a strange ball that Neville had dropped. He soon rose up on his broom and took off, with Harry following.

 _Idiots,_ Toshiro thought.

Malfoy threw the ball as far as he could, and Harry went shooting off after it. For someone with no experience riding a broom, he did remarkably well, and managed to catch the ball and bring it back safely. But, just as he touched down, Professor McGonagall stormed out.

"HARRY POTTER!" All the students flinched and turned towards the angry woman. " _Never_ \- in all my time at Hogwarts - how _dare_ you - might have broken your neck-"

"It wasn't his fault, Professor-"

"Be quiet, Miss Patil-"

"But Malfoy-"

"That's _enough_ , Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now." As the two headed off, there were groans from the Gryffindors and laughs from the Slytherins.

Toshiro shook his head, exasperated. **"McGonagall will chew him out for sure. If he was in _my_ squad - he'd clean the entire division floor with a toothbrush. Or I'd have him go over and play with Kusajishi. _That_ would-"**

" _What_ are you muttering about, grandpa?" The condescending voice broke him from his thoughts, and Toshiro glared at Malfoy.

"Nothing about you." **_Baka,_** he silently added.

"Why don't you speak in English, like the rest of us? Or are you too old?"

Toshiro wasn't quite sure how those two fit together, but whatever. He wasn't there to fight. "I can speak English," he said.

"Then do it, you white-haired midget."

Toshiro's eyes narrowed dangerously. He squared his shoulders, lifted his chin, and glared Malfoy straight in the eyes. Despite it being a sunny day, the temperature lowered considerably. But before he could say anything, Madam Hooch came back.

"Alright, break it up."

As they split into groups, Toshiro stood next to Hermione but was giving Malfoy his most terrifying glare. When Malfoy glanced over, Toshiro made a cutting gesture across his throat.

* * *

Later that day in the Gryffindor common room, Toshiro was reading by the open window - having already sent a report to Soul Society and having finished his schoolwork - while Harry told Ron about how he'd been chosen Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Ron thought it was fantastic, but Hermione seemed to follow Toshiro's thinking.

"But why did you get rewarded for breaking the rules?"

"She thought I was a good flier," Harry shrugged.

"You weren't even supposed to be flying at the time!"

"I don't know!"

"Granger is correct, Potter," Toshiro said, not looking up from his book. "You broke the rules and got rewarded. That is a dangerous habit for people to fall into."

"What are you talking about, Toshiro?" Ron asked indignantly. "You were there; you saw that Malfoy started it!"

"First of all, you are to address me by Hitsugaya, not Toshiro. Secondly, while Malfoy should have been punished, the fact is that he was not caught. Whether he started it or not is not important. You finished it, Potter. And it is unwise for anyone to indulge children and give them false ideas that they will not be punished for their actions. Be grateful that it was McGonagall who saw you, and not someone like Snape. Otherwise you would have been severely punished or expelled."

"Maybe, but I wasn't. She saw my talent and thought me worthy to join the team!"

Toshiro turned the page. "Yes. She did."

"Do you have a problem with that, Toshiro?" Ron asked, getting an edge to his tone. "Are you angry that _you_ didn't get the spot, and Harry did?"

"No. First-years are not even supposed to be on the team. And I have no interest in getting involved in your sports. I will tell you again - do not call me by my first name. Address me by last." He stared to sound like he was talking to his subordinates.

"You-" Just as Ron was starting his tirade, Toshiro sensed a Hollow nearby. His head snapped up, and he took a second to locate it before sprinting upstairs, drawing the curtains around his bed, swallowing a soul candy, telling it to stay put, and going out the window.

The Hollow was a relatively low-leveled one, and he easily cut it down. Once he replaced the sword on his back, he looked around. He was in the Forbidden Forest. The gloomy forest had close-together trees, thick undergrowth, and had a dark feeling to it. As he prepared to leave, he felt another Hollow nearby. This one was stronger than the first, but still ridiculously easy for the Captain to defeat. But strangely, as one disappeared, another one popped up.

He was out there for a good hour dealing with the Hollows when he felt a strange and dark spiritual presence. He held his sword carefully as he made his way towards it, and what he saw made him freeze.

There, kneeling on the ground beside a white horse, was a figure in a wispy black robe drinking the horses's blood. Only, it wasn't a horse. It had a long, silver-white horn sticking out from its forehead, and its blood was silver. The figure didn't seem to sense Toshiro, as he was concealing his reiatsu, so Toshiro had a long time to watch in horror as the figure drank the unicorn's blood. When it was finished, it straightened and wiped off its mouth, turned, and glided away. Toshiro stared after it, horrified and fascinated.

 _What the hell just happened?_

* * *

 **"Are you sure it was drinking its blood?"**

 **"Yes, I'm sure. I had plenty of time to watch."**

 **"Send me a sample of the unicorn's blood."**

 **"I already have. My owl is on her way with some."**

 **"Good."** The call disconnected, and Toshiro stared at it in disgust.

 **"I hate dealing with Kurotshuchi."**

 **"I agree,"** Hyourinmaru said. **"Not only him, but his zanpakuto."**

 **"Creepy golden baby,"** Toshiro muttered.

"Toshiro? Are you in here?"

"It's Hitsugaya to you!" Toshiro pulled back the curtains around his bed and glared at Harry. "What do you want, Potter?"

Harry fidgeted, not looking at him. "You ran off so suddenly, then wouldn't answer us for a long time. What happened?"

"I had something I needed to do. Don't worry about it."

Harry nodded, then sat on the edge of his bed. "Do you really think I should be punished?" he asked. Toshiro regarded him in surprise.

"What?"

"You said that it was bad for me to get rewarded and not punished for what I did."

Toshiro took a deep breath. "I meant that, just because of your status, you should not be given special treatment. Also, you should not expect it. For example: Professor Snape. No one may like him, but he does his job well enough. He teaches you a valuable lesson. And I'm not talking about potions."

"What is it, then?"

"He teaches you not to expect mercy or kindness from others. You should never assume they will give it to you."

Harry laughed shortly. "What kind of life have you had? That's a harsh lesson."

Toshiro looked down, remembering Aizen, Momo, and everyone he had failed. "Sometimes those are the only ones you can learn from."

"Is that why you don't treat me differently?"

"Hmm?" Toshiro had been lost in thought, and the question pulled him out. "Differently from what?"

"Everyone stares, acts nervous, avoids me. They all know me, and I don't like it."

Toshiro blinked, surprised that a boy he'd only met a couple weeks ago was telling him this much. "Potter, I did not grow up hearing tales of your successes. The first I heard of you was from a bartender in a pub. I have no reason to treat you differently."

He thought he saw relief in the boy's eyes. "That's - thank you."

"I know what it is like to be an outcast, to be avoided because of your abilities or appearance. I've learned to ignore them, and so should you."

"Thank you."

"Potter?"

"Yes?"

"There's an owl on your bed."

* * *

That night, Toshiro sat in the open windowsill staring out at the cool night. A breeze rustled his gravity-defying white hair, and calmed him. He didn't like revealing so much to someone that was almost a stranger, but Harry was surprisingly easy to talk to. He reminded him of himself, in a way, when he had just joined the Academy. Everyone calling him a 'prodigy' or the reincarnation of the 'Heavenly Guardian'. It was much, for such a young boy.

Now he was a Captain, and commanded his own squad. He'd earned that squad with everything he had, and yet people still patronized him and called him a child. It was frustrating, and if he let that frustration show, that would only prove them right. It was an unfair, cruel circle.

 **"I am not a child,"** he whispered to the night.

* * *

"It's past midnight; no one's going to be awake," Harry whispered, slowly pushing open the door to their dorm room and creeping in.

"I never, _ever_ want to do that again," Neville whimpered, following.

"Me neither, mate." Ron's voice was shaky. "Me nei - oof. Harry, why'd you stop?"

Harry pointed. There, sitting on the windowsill with the wind blowing through the open glass, was the strange Japanese student. His white hair seemed to almost glow in the moonlight, and he was _staring right at them_.

"Hi," Harry whispered, waving guiltily. "We're just - um, we were-" The kid's strange turquoise eyes seemed to peer right through his soul.

"You went out to prove you are not a coward." The answer came quickly, quietly.

"Y-yeah, but how'd you know?" Ron stuttered. The Japanese kid blinked and switched his gaze to the red-head.

"What else could you do, after Malfoy challenged you to a duel?" The boys struggled for an answer, and the white-haired boy looked out the window. "If it is dangerous, I should know."

"Why?" Neville's voice was high and pinched. "It - why do you care?"

"I am a student at this magical school full of dangerous people, artifacts, and wands. If there is something that can kill me, I should know. And I have no interest in getting you three in trouble. It reflects back on me, too."

The three glanced at each other, then made a silent decision. "You know that forbidden room on the third floor?" Harry started.

* * *

 **So, that's chapter 3! In case it wasn't clear, this last scene happens after Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Neville run from Filch and his cat and end up meeting Fluffy (the three-headed dog guarding the trapdoor).**

 **And...that's about it...Next chapter hopefully up on Tuesday.**

 **Happy reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Heeeeeeeeeeere's the 4th Chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Harry Potter, Tite Kubo and J.K. Rowling do. Sigh.**

* * *

Hermione Granger was, for lack of a better term - a show-off. She could do magic, and could do magic well. So, she did.

Unfortunately because of this, she had little to no friends; her only being Toshiro, but he wasn't exactly the warmest person ever. So, she effectively had no friends. This fact wasn't helped in her classes where she did magic perfectly on her first try or helped out her classmates, but most saw this as her being bossy and usually mocked her for this. Example: Professor Flitwick's Charm's class when she corrected Ron's pronunciation of _'Wingardium Leviosa'_. Toshiro had to admit, their accents were fun to listen to.

After the class, Ron and Harry were walking along a crowded corridor. "It's no wonder no one can stand her," Ron said to Harry. "She's a nightmare, honestly."

Hermione, who had been walking behind them, burst into tears and pushed roughly past.

"I think she heard you," Harry said.

"So?" Ron looked uncomfortable, despite his response. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."

Walking behind them, Toshiro glared at their backs.

* * *

Hermione wasn't in their classes the next day, and he heard one of the twins - Parvati Patil - telling a girl named Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom. With a soft sigh, Toshiro turned off the main path.

Luckily, the girls' bathroom in question was hardly used, and no one was walking past, so he knocked on the door. "Granger?" he called. "It's Hitsugaya. Are you all right?"

"Go away!" A sob came immediately after the angry yell. Toshiro sighed again and set down his bag.

"Listen, Granger, I know how it feels to not have friends, to be an outcast, to be shunned for your abilities. It sucks. I know because it happened to me. And it takes time to get over it, but eventually you learn to ignore them. And someday you will be successful and they won't laugh at you anymore. You'll rise above them in status, and they'll look up to you saying 'Oh, I wish I was like her...I want to be as good as her...' things like that. So trust me when I say it will get better."

"How do you know?" The voice was just as angry as before. "We're in the same year! Where would people have hated you?"

Toshiro took a deep breath. He didn't like talking about his past, but he felt he would have to if he wanted her to understand. He knew exactly what she was feeling. "I lived on the streets before I was taken in by my grandmother. I went to school early because I had to, and people feared me because of my hair and intellect. But I gained respect and strength, and they don't say those things anymore."

 _Well, they do, just not to my face,_ he thought. _But she doesn't need to know that._

"Hitsugaya...thank you, but go away. I just want to be alone."

"All right." He picked up his bag. "But..." He shifted uncomfortably. "If you want to talk to someone...I'm usually free." He walked away.

* * *

"I can't believe you're late to the feast."

Toshiro slid into the seat and glared at Ron. "I was comforting Granger."

"Comforting her? Is she really that bad?" Ron looked put-out, and Toshiro nodded.

"She doesn't want to talk to anyone." He put some rice balls on his plate and poured some tea. "I heard what you said about her, as did she."

"Oh...so she's mad?"

After taking a sip of tea, he put the cup down. "Yes. And no. But what she is feeling is _your_ fault."

Ron opened his mouth for an angry retort, but just then the Hall doors opened with a bang, and Professor Quirrell came sprinting in. Every eye followed his progress to Dumbledore's chair. "Troll - in the dungeon - thought you ought to know." He then fainted.

Dumbledore shot purple fireworks into the air to get attention from the chaos that had ensued, and rumbled, "Prefects, lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

Percy Weasley, one of the Gryffindor Prefects, started shouting for the first-years to follow him. They did so, but then Harry grabbed Ron's arm. "Hermione!"

"What about her?"

"She doesn't know about the troll." The pair then ducked away, and after a moment of indecision, Toshiro followed.

They hurried through the halls, eventually reaching the girls' bathroom. Harry and Ron went in, and immediately stopped. The troll was standing in the bathroom. It had dull gray skin, a lumpy body like boulders, was twenty-feet tall, and a horrible stench was coming off of it. There was a large wooden club in its right hand. Hermione was cowering against the opposite wall, looking as if she were about to faint. Toshiro saw all this as he came in behind the boys.

"Confuse it!" Harry shouted at Ron, then picked up a broken tap and flung it against the wall. The troll stopped, and slowly turned towards Harry, blinking unintelligent eyes.

"Oy, pea-brain!" Ron yelled, throwing a metal pipe at the creature. The pipe simply bounced off its shoulder and the troll turned towards Ron.

"Come on, run, _run_!" Harry yelled at Hermione, who was frozen against the wall.

With an angry hiss, Toshiro darted forward and scooped up Hermione, his gigai weaker than his normal body but still stronger than average humans. He started towards the door, but stopped when he heard Ron yell.

The red-head was pinned against the wall of toilet stalls, the troll bearing down on him. With his arms full, Toshiro couldn't do anything, but then movement caught his eye. Harry ran forward and leaped onto the troll. "What are you doing, **baka**?!" Toshiro yelled. Harry was hanging with his arms around the troll's neck, effectively confusing the thing. To make matters worse, the wand in his hand had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils.

Bellowing in pain and confusion, the troll flailed, his club swinging wildly. Then, Ron waved his wand and yelled, _Wingardium Leviosa_!" The troll's club rose up out of its hand and hovered above its head. The troll looked up in amazement just as it crashed down, knocking him unconscious. Rolling away, Harry picked himself up and retrieved his wand out of its nose, a long string of what looked like lumpy gray glue swinging off it.

"Urgh - troll boogers." He wiped it on the troll's pants.

"Is it dead?" Hermione asked, wriggling out of Toshiro's arms.

"I don't think so," Harry answered. "I think it's just been knocked out."

"When did you get here?" Ron asked suddenly, staring at Toshiro. He glared at the long-nosed boy.

"I've been here the whole time."

Before anything else could be said, three teachers burst into the destroyed room: McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell. Quirrell whimpered and sat on a toilet, Snape bent over the troll, and McGonagall glared at the four of them. "What on earth were you thinking of?" There was a cold fury in her voice that reminded Toshiro of when he'd gotten chewed out for eating during class at the Academy. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Ron and Harry looked down, Toshiro calmly returned McGonagall's angry gaze, and Hermione spoke up. "Please, Professor McGonagall - they were looking for me."

"Miss Granger!"

"I went looking for the troll because I - I thought I could deal with it on my own - you know, because I've read all about them." Ron dropped his wand, Harry's mouth opened, and Toshiro's eyes widened. Hermione Granger - the perfect student - telling an outright lie to a teacher?! "If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. Toshiro tried to get me out. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."

Toshiro was too surprised to correct her about his name, and Harry and Ron tried to look as if, yes, this was exactly what happened.

"Well - in that case...Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?" Hermione hung her head. "Miss Granger, ten points will be taken from Gryffindor for this. I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses." Hermione left and McGonagall turned to the three boys.

"Well, I still say you are lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

They hurried up to their common room and entered; Hermione was waiting for them by the door. Ron, Hermione, and Harry all said "Thank you", and the boys hurried off to get plates. Hermione turned to Toshiro.

"I think you've made friends," he said, nodding towards the boys, who were busily chowing down.

"Hopefully we all have." She glanced at him then the boys. "Thank you," she said finally.

"We all played a part in that. Just glad no one got hurt."

"So am I." She smiled at him, and for a split second, he smiled back.

* * *

With November, it got very cold. The students changed into their winter clothing; at least, all except Toshiro. He tolerated and liked the cold much more than others, something they didn't get.

"At least wear gloves," Hermione said in their common room. Toshiro was sitting at the open window like usual, arm draped over a bent knee.

"I'm fine," he said, and looked up to see the boys coming down. Both were shivering, and immediately stood by the fire.

"Close the window, Toshiro."

"It's Hitsugaya to you, Weasley."

"Aw, loosen up. I still don't get why you insist we call you that."

"It's how we do things in Japan. Usually we add honorifics to the end of the name, but we aren't speaking Japanese or in Japan, so I'm not."

"Fine."

Hermione had gotten much looser about breaking the rules. The day before Harry's first Quidditch match, they were standing in the freezing courtyard during break, and she had conjured up a blue flame that could be carried in a jar. Unfortunately, Snape had crossed their path, and they shuffled around to hide it. He came over, took five points for Harry taking a library book outside the school, and limped off.

"Wonder what happened," Harry said.

"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," Ron replied.

* * *

They were sitting in the common room that night when Harry left to go get his book back. He came back white-faced, and told them the story of how he'd seen Snape's bloody leg and Filch bandaging it up. He also reported that Snape said, "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"

Then Harry had gotten kicked out of the room.

When everyone went to bed, Toshiro sat on his with the curtains closed, doing paperwork. Rangiku kept sending it to him, and sometimes he finished his homework so early that he was bored enough to do it. Especially in Magical History class. He had just finished the last one when he sensed a Hollow on the grounds. After a sigh and putting away his paperwork, he swallowed a soul pill and told it to pretend it was asleep, then jumped out the window.

It had been too long since he'd last trained. He could feel his pent up energy as he used shunpo to get to the Hollow. He had little difficulty defeating it, and after that he went to the Forbidden Forest to find a large clearing. Somewhere out of the way where he could train. He soon found a perfect spot. It was about the size of a football field, with a few trees sprinkled around.

He trained there until the eastern sky started to lighten, then he headed back after deicing the clearing. That was a rather noticeable side effect of his training. As he shunpoed off, he didn't noticed the gleaming eyes watching him.

* * *

 **Aaaaaaaaand that's it. Who's watching him? Well, I know.**

 **Next Chapter up on Friday.**

 **Quidditch the next chapter! Yay!**

 **Happy reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**This is Chapter 5. Obviously. QUIDDITCH!**

 **By the way, I only bold the words to show that they are spoken in Japanese when he's among English-speakers. When he's at Soul Society everyone is speaking Japanese, so I'm not going to bold that.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach/Harry Potter. That title belongs to Tite Kubo/J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

The morning of Harry's first Quidditch match was bright and cold. Down in the Great Hall, everyone was in high spirits and ready for a good match. Gryffindor and Slytherin glared at each other and gave their respective teams wishes of good luck.

Harry was nervous. That much was very obvious.

He didn't want to eat, but Seamus piled sausages and ketchup onto his plate and practically forced him to eat it. Looking at the combination, Toshiro shuddered. He didn't get how these kids could have something so greasy this early in the morning. Or anytime, really. He simply had some tea and sat back to wait.

When the time came, the whole school poured out to the Quidditch field to watch the match. Hermione, Ron, and a few others had made a banner saying 'Potter for President' and drawn the Gryffindor lion underneath. Hermione had used a charm that changed the paint color every so often. Toshiro sat next to the rowdy group, leaning back in the bench and putting his feet up on the seat back in front of him. He was probably the calmest person there. He didn't see the point of this game, and really didn't care if his house won.

Oh no. He now thought of Gryffindor as 'his house'.

The two teams - Slytherin in silver and green and Gryffindor in gold and red - came onto the field, and the watching school cheered. It hurt Toshiro's ears and made him wince. They lined up in the center with Madam Hooch, then rose into the air. The Quaffle was tossed into the air, and the game began.

It was caught first by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor. The commentator was a kid called Lee Jordan, and was being closely watched by Professor McGonagall. The game was fast-paced, with the Quaffle constantly changing possession. The Beaters on each team kept whacking the Bludgers everywhere, and one time it even sailed right over the heads of the crowd. Toshiro straightened from ducking, and felt a vibrating in his pocket. Looking at the screen of his soul phone, he saw it was the Head-Captain.

That created a problem. If he took it here, there was so much noise that it was likely Yamamoto couldn't hear him. If he left - and the only way was to use shunpo - someone would see him. And he couldn't ignore the call, either. You never ignored a call from the Head-Captain. So, he opened it up and turned the volume up _loud_.

 **"This is Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro,"** he answered, speaking in rapid Japanese. He could barely hear the response, and had to press it to his ear.

 **"This is Head-Captain Yamamoto. We are in the middle of a Captain's meeting, and have some questions for you."**

 _What did he say?_ Toshiro held a hand over his other ear and tried to hunker down. **"Could you repeat that, please?"**

 **"This is - you have much poise."**

He couldn't have heard that correctly. **"I'm sorry, I'm at a Quidditch match. Could you speak up please?"**

 **"Where is those toys!"**

In his inner world, Hyourinmaru said a very bad word.

 **"Excuse me? I don't have any toys!"**

 **"You have boys? I am only aware of Captain Kuchiki having them."**

 **"CAPTAIN KUCHIKI'S A FATHER?!"**

 **"I AM NOT LOOKING FOR KOI, TOYS, OR BOYS. THIS IS A CAPTAIN'S MEETING, AND WE NEED TO ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS!"**

 _Oh. That makes more sense._ Toshiro then started making his way down the stairs. **"SORRY, SIR. I'M GOING TO A QUIETER AREA RIGHT NOW!"**

* * *

 **Meanwhile in Soul Society Captain's Meeting...**

"From the world of the living, Captain Hitsugaya has sent back some blood of a unicorn, at the request of Captain Kurotshuchi. He says he saw a person drinking from one. Captain Kurotshuchi?"

The black and white Captain stepped forward. "The blood's DNA was mostly horse, but had traces of something else. I would love to get more samples - if you could get him to send back more-"

"That is not the point!" The Head-Captain banged his staff on the floor. "Why would someone be drinking the blood of a unicorn?"

"I don't know," Kurotshuchi shrugged. "Perhaps it has qualities in the magical world that we do not know of. That is why I need more samples if I am to have a more accurate answer. I also need to know how long the creature was dead before it got its blood drunk."

"Very well. I will call Captain Hitsugaya and you can ask him." The Captains waited in patient silence as he dialed, then put it on speaker phone and held it out in his hand. When it was picked up, general _noise_ came through. It sounded like Toshiro was speaking in Japanese, but they could only barely make out the words through the noise.

"This is Head-Captain Yamamoto. We are in the middle of a Captain's meeting, and have some questions for you."

The noise on the other side dimmed, and they heard, "Could you repeat that, please?"

"This is - why is there so much noise?"

There was a pause, then Toshiro answered sounding confused. "I'm sorry, I'm at a Quidditch match. Could you speak up please?"

"Go someplace where there is less noise!"

"Excuse me?" Toshiro sounded offended. "I dropped my koi!"

"What? You have koi? I am only aware of Captain Kuchiki having them." By now, most of the Captains were snickering.

"CAPTAIN KUCHIKI'S A FATHER?!" Captain Zaraki burst out in laughter, as did Captain Kyoraku. Matsumoto - there as a replacement for her young Captain until he was done with the mission - bit her tongue, and Captain Kuchiki looked offended. Head-Captain, however, looked extremely annoyed. He took a deep breath and bellowed into the phone.

"I AM NOT LOOKING FOR KOI, TOYS, OR BOYS. THIS IS A CAPTAIN'S MEETING, AND WE NEED TO ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS!"

On the other end, Toshiro responded at the same volume. "SORRY, SIR. I'M GOING TO A QUIETER AREA RIGHT NOW!"

The Head-Captain shook his head and sighed, and Kyoraku said, "I believe congratulations are in order, Captain Kuchiki."

"I am not a father. You are not to spread that rumor."

There was a few moments of silence, then Captain Ukitake said, "I wonder what the guards outside are hearing."

* * *

 **Outside...**

The guards were pressing their ears up against the doors in order to hear more clearly. The first thing they had heard was a voice sounding like Captain Hitsugaya yelling, "CAPTAIN KUCHIKI'S A FATHER?!"

The guards exchanged a look, and then leaned up against the doors. Then they heard the Head-Captain's loud and annoyed voice. "I AM NOT LOOKING FOR KOI, TOYS, OR BOYS. THIS IS A CAPTAIN'S MEETING, AND WE NEED TO ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS!"

"SORRY, SIR. I'M GOING TO A QUIETER AREA RIGHT NOW!"

And then they heard Captain Kyoraku say, "Congratulations, Captain Kuchiki."

It was too much for the guards. They leaned even heavier against the doors to hear better, and under their weight, the doors swung open, causing the two Shinigami to tumble over. When they looked up, they saw all nine Captains and a Vice-Captain staring at them. "This is a Captain's meeting," Head-Captain Yamamoto boomed. "Get out!"

The guards scrambled to their feet. "Sorry sir!" They bowed, and as they were closing the doors, one looked at Captain Kuchiki. "And congratulations on becoming a father, sir."

They missed the furious and red-faced Captain's mortified look. Once again outside, they looked at each other. "Do you know who the mother is?"

The other guard shrugged. "I didn't even know Captain Kuchiki got married."

"Maybe he didn't." The guard's eyes widened. "Maybe he's going to marry her soon!"

"Marry who?" The guards turned to a Shinigami girl that had paused while walking by.

"Captain Kuchiki's a father!" one said excitedly. The girl smiled.

"Good for him. Who's the mother?"

"I don't know. We didn't hear any more than that. But we heard Captain Hitsugaya yell that Captain Kuchiki's a father, then Captain Kyoraku congratulated him for being a father."

"Who's a father?" Another Shinigami had stopped.

And so it has begun...

* * *

 **Back Inside Soul Society Captain's Meeting...**

Kuchiki groaned. "Captain Hitsugaya, you just ruined me."

"What?" The noise had lessened, but was still much too loud.

"You have made me look like a fool."

"I don't have a pool!"

"No, you have made everyone think I am a father."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll do fine. Who's the mother?"

"THERE IS NO MOTHER!"

Toshiro was silent for a moment then: "Of course there is a mother! There's always a - oh-my-God DID YOU KILL HER?"

"What the hell-"

"Captain Kuchiki, have you learned nothing?" the Head-Captain interrupted, pointing his cane at the door. Outside, there were several Shinigami pressing their ears against the doors, and more were lining up.

* * *

 **World of the Living, Hogwarts...**

Several minutes later, after apologizing to Kuchiki, answering a few questions, then laughing like a maniac at the mistake, Toshiro made his way back to the stadium. The first thing he saw was Harry hanging upside down on his broom. Looking down the row to his seat, he decided it wasn't worth the effort of shoving and scrambling just to sit, so he leaned against the wall by the stairs and watched Harry's broom shake him around.

"Is that supposed to happen?" he asked someone nearby, who shook their head. But soon, the shaking stopped, and Harry was able to clamber back on top of his broom and fly off.

 _Weird,_ Toshiro decided. Then he watched as Harry zoomed to the ground, hit it on all fours, and coughed into his hand. Something gold and shiny popped out, and he held it up triumphantly.

"I've got the Snitch!"

 _Weird._ He suddenly wondered what would happen if they tried this in Soul Society.

Missing limbs. Blood. Death. Probable disembowelment. No. He would _never_ suggest this to Soul Society. Ever.

* * *

Toshiro found out later that day from the Golden Trio how Snape had jinxed Harry's broom and Hermione had set him on fire to stop him. Like Hagrid, Toshiro seriously doubted that the teacher would want to kill Harry. After all, he was just a kid, and except for back-talking a few times, Harry hadn't done anything to make him that angry.

Soon it was December, and with it came snow. Lots of it.

Toshiro was happy. With the holidays, he could go back to Soul Society and see how his squad was doing. He was seriously worried about them, with Matsumoto running things. She may have been excellent in battle, but she was _the worst Vice-Captain ever_ when it came to paperwork. In fact, if she wasn't so good in battle, she probably would have been fired by the previous Captain, not to mention him.

McGonagall came around with a list of students who were going to be staying at Hogwarts over the break, which Toshiro immediately declined. He was going to go home, and nothing would stop him. Harry and Ron were going to stay at Hogwarts, since the Dursley's didn't want Harry, and Ron's parents were going to Romania to visit Charlie, one of Ron's older brothers.

On the last full day before he left to winter break, Toshiro went to the Great Hall for breakfast and saw all the hard work that had been put in. Twelve great trees stood in the room, lights floated in the air, holly and mistletoe hung on the walls, and icicles and candles decorated the trees. Other than the obvious fire hazard, Toshiro thought it looked amazing.

"How do you like it?" a deep voice asked, and he looked over to see that Dumbledore had spoken. They were the only two in the room; Toshiro consistently got up before the other students, but Dumbledore was always there first. Sometimes Toshiro thought he slept in the room. Like, after dinner he just stayed and slept on the table. Probably not, but anything's possible.

"It is..." Toshiro's English was excellent, but he struggled to find the word. **"Extravagant,"** he said finally in Japanese.

"How so?"

Toshiro looked at him in surprise. **"You speak Japanese?"** he asked rapidly. Dumbledore nodded. **"Well, I am more...'more is less' type. For example, instead of twelve trees, I would have one in each corner and one large one behind the head table. I would ice the trees and put lights inside to make them glow."**

 **"I rather think this shows off our school,"** Dumbledore replied, spreading his hands. Toshiro dipped his head.

 **"Yes, it does, and I am not saying that I do not like it, just that I have a different style."**

 **"If everyone's opinion was the same, then there would be no change in the world."**

McGonagall walked in, and looked between the two of them. Then she shrugged and sat down in her chair. Dumbledore laughed, and Toshiro went to the Gryffindor table to get some tea and read. The Great Hall slowly filled, and later the Golden Trio sat down beside him.

"Are you staying at Hogwarts for break?" Hermione asked. Toshiro shook his head.

"I'm going home."

"To Japan?"

"Yes," he lied smoothly. "My family is there." Then he noticed the rapid way they were eating and asked, "Are you going to the library to look for Nicolas Flamel again?"

They nodded. They'd told him about their conversation with Hagrid, and the name he had let slip. Toshiro really wasn't that interested, but they were spending a lot of time in the library looking for him.

Then the day came that they left on the train. The good news - they were on winter break. The bad news - a day was taken up leaving Hogwarts, and a day was taken going back to Hogwarts. And sadly he had to be on that train otherwise it would look suspicious.

He sat in a compartment with Hermione and Neville, had Athena on his lap, and was slowly stroking her. She seemed to like it if he scratched her under the chin, and so kept dipping her head to get him to do it. Toshiro mostly read during the train ride, and ignored the food cart when it came around. All he wanted was to go home. When the ride finally ended, he picked up all his things, put them in a cart, and wheeled it out of the station. Then he found a secluded area and opened a Senkaimon. Following the butterfly through, he arrived at the main Senkaimon in Seiretei. The guards on duty gave strange looks to his trunk and owl, but welcomed him back.

Feeling sorry for her, Toshiro let Athena out of her cage, and she flew circles above him as he made his way to the division. Word of his arrival spread, and when he got to the division, its members were in neat rows in the courtyard.

"Welcome back, Captain Hitsugaya."

"Thank you. I trust all's been well?"

"Yes, sir."

As they dispersed, one came up to him; his fourth seat. "Um, Captain..."

"Yes?"

The woman fiddled with her hands. "I thought I should warn you...the office is...well, decorated."

"Decorated?"

"Yes. Vice-Captain Matsumoto did it herself."

Toshiro sighed. "Thank you for the warning." She nodded and left.

After putting his things away in his quarters, he made his way to his office. Division members he passed looked nervous, and he wondered about the reputation he had. Was he really so scary? Bracing himself and taking a deep breath, he opened the door.

Inside he was hit with an overwhelming scent of pine. Strung-together bundles of needles hung on the walls with large red bows on each point where they were attached, his and Rangiku's desk both had vase of poinsettias on them and on the coffee table, and a large pine tree stood in the corner. On its branches were hung small balls of gold and red. As Toshiro took this in, he was suddenly grabbed and held tightly.

Before he could fight back, a loud and happy voice yelled, "Captain!"

Oh. Toshiro struggled out of her grasp and glared at her. "When are you going to stop doing that?"

"Never! Welcome back, Captain!"

He let out a defeated sigh. "Thank you. The office is..." Rangiku leaned forward with an expectant expression. "...interesting."

"Ah, thank you!" He was crushed in another hug. Once he broke free, he strolled around the office, studying the decorations up close. "Hinamori and I spent a long time putting them up."

Toshiro paused. "Hinamori helped?"

"Yep." Rangiku grinned. "She thought you'd like it."

Toshiro didn't saything, but Rangiku's smile widened. Then, with a rush of air and a hoot, Athena swooped into the office and perched on the back of the couch. She surveyed the room with smoke-gray eyes. Rangiku went forward and tried to stroke her, but Athena hopped away and went to Toshiro's shoulder. "I don't think she really likes others," he said.

"I know," Rangiku answered mournfully. "Anyway, I'm just glad you're not freaking out."

"Why would I do that?" He touched the pine needles, feeling that they were soft and healthy.

"Well..." She shifted uncomfortably. "You've always disapproved of celebrating holidays."

He fixed her with a stern look. "Because you've always gotten the whole squad drunk."

He thought back to a couple years after he'd become a Captain, and the winter holidays had rolled around. As usual, he gave them the day off, but when he came in the next morning, literally _everyone_ in the squad was drunk. Training had been terrible, resulting in him having to deice the training field, send several men to the fourth, and fish one of them out of a tree.

He had then proceeded to interrogate them, once the men were coherent enough to stammer out a terrified response to his demand as to 'Who was responsible for creating this much destruction?!'

He didn't see her for the rest of the day, and he suspected that someone had managed to get word to her to hide for a few hours. But she couldn't avoid him forever.

"I have no problem with the holidays unless they affect our work," Toshiro said, coming back to the present. "Besides, any damage you cause with parties this year is coming out of _your_ paycheck."

With that, he left the office with Athena on his shoulder and a heartbroken Rangiku behind. His division members were disturbed and more than a little frightened to see a merciless grin on his face.

A certain female - who was now no longer a new recruit - wet herself.

* * *

It was several hours later - after making his report to the Head-Captain and delivering various magical things to the 12th - that Toshiro finally had a chance to go down to the 5th. He stopped one of the lower-ranking Shinigami, who said that Momo should be in her office. He made his way there, knocked, and when there was no answer, slid the door open. There was no one there, and he stood there for a moment feeling silly before going up to her desk.

After everything with Aizen, Momo had taken over control of the fifth. She did all the Captain duties, even though she was just a Vice-Captain. She worked almost as hard as Toshiro did, but he didn't know whether to feel sorry for her or not. Momo had been very attached to Aizen, even after he'd almost killed her. Luckily she'd recovered from the Winter War, even after what Toshiro had done to her.

Toshiro shook his head, determined not to revisit old memories. What had happened had happened, and he wasn't going to make those mistakes again. In the meantime, he wasn't going to think about them. They were too painful.

He had turned to leave when a thought struck him. Gathering the moisture in the air, he froze it into ice and formed it into the shape of a vase of poinsettia flowers, like the ones in his office. On the base, he inscribed, 'Thank you for everything - Hitsugaya.' Then he left.

* * *

Winter break was only a couple weeks long, so he made sure to put the days to good use. Most of his days were like usual before he'd started his mission, and he trained a few times with the division. It was good to train without having to hold back, so he gave it his all. However, the first time he trained, he'd frozen the training grounds' floor, and everyone else on it struggled to stay on their feet. He made sure to hold back _a little_ after that.

Still, it was good to be back in Soul Society. One of the only downsides was that he had to go to Captains' meetings again. In one, the Head-Captain had some news for him.

"Captain Hitsugaya, we have had some requests for a white winter."

"Yes, sir." Toshiro bowed.

That night, he stood far above the ground with his zanpakuto out. He used its power and gathered clouds, starting first a rain and steadily lowered the temperature. When everything was right, he made it snow. As he watched the fluffy white flakes fall past, he released his Shikai. Hyourinmaru burst of his blade and soared, roaring, into the frozen skies.

* * *

The break was coming to a close, and Toshiro was due back at Hogwarts. He made his way to the Senkaimon, carrying his trunk - which he'd shrunk - and Athena's cage. The owl was inside, hooting sadly. He was once again back in his gigai, and was unhappy.

He'd already made Rangiku promise not to have any more sake parties while he was gone - he'd heard all about the one just after he'd left - although he had no doubts she wouldn't obey him. But, he'd made sure that no bar would serve her sake. A frozen building was suitable warning for the bartenders. He went through the gate, looking forward to getting the rest of the school year over with.

Again he rode the Hogwarts Express to get to the school, then took a carriage the rest of the way. There was a skeletal horse pulling it, which no one else seemed to be able to see. He made a mental note to ask Hermione about it.

Once back at the school, he went back to the Gryffindor common room and found his trunk by the foot of his bed. Everything was back to how they had been. He opened the window and sat on the sill, looking out over the school.

In the distance, he could feel a Hollow. He went out to defeat it, and after he came back, went to the Great Hall for dinner. Inside he found Hermione, Ron, and Harry. As he sat down to eat and drink, he felt uneasy, and couldn't sit still. His hand tightened around an invisible sword.

He was ready.

* * *

 **That's it!**

 **Happy reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I use direct quotes from the book for this story sometimes. If you've noticed that sometimes my writing style changes, that's why. I've also noticed that J.K. Rowling doesn't use semicolons. It bugs me, actually.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach/Harry Potter. All rights go to Tite Kubo and J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

Harry's second Quidditch game was fast approaching as the school year started up again, and with the search for Nicholas Flamel, Snape, and Malfoy, Harry was having a rough time.

Potions class was becoming a weekly torture. Snape clearly hated all Gryffindors and barely needed the smallest excuse to take points off the house or give out detentions. He even took points from Gryffindor when Toshiro was reading a book after finishing a potion. Toshiro glared at his back.

The icy Captain started to help the Golden Trio search the library for Nicolas Flamel, mostly because Hermione wouldn't stop bugging him. He could read faster than even the witch, and once she discovered this fact, she decided that he would be a valuable resource. So, after classes, they would drag him to the library, plop several books in front of him, and tell him to read.

Now, he liked reading, and learning more about the wizarding world was part of his mission, so he really didn't mind too much. He always finished all his homework before starting, and other than killing Hollows, he didn't have much to do. He trained at night in the Forbidden Forest.

One night, after coming back from a disappointing session at the library, he and the Golden Trio were in the crowded and _horrendously_ hot common room when the door opened and Neville literally hopped in. His legs were frozen together with the Leg-Locker-Curse, and must have hopped all the way up there. Hermione immediately preformed the countercurse, and Neville rubbed his legs in appreciation.

"What happened?" Hermione asked as she led him over to where Ron and Harry were sitting. The rest of the students were laughing, except for the two boys, Hermione, and Toshiro. He knew what it was like to be picked on, and felt sympathetic for the boy.

"Malfoy," Neville answered in a shaky voice. "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on."

"Go to Professor McGonagall!" Hermione urged. "Report him!"

Neville shook his head. "I don't want any more trouble."

"You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" Ron said. "He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."

"There's not need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that."

While Harry walked over and gave Neville a Chocolate Frog, Toshiro frowned. "Malfoy is jealous," he said, and the four's eyes swung to face him. He was sitting by the open window, as usual. "He himself is not brave. He bullies you because he knows you will not do anything. If he was brave, he would fight someone would could beat him in order to get stronger."

"Would you fight him for me?" Toshiro blinked in surprise at the request. "I mean, you're as smart as Hermione! I'm sure you can beat him!"

Toshiro set his jaw. "I will not fight him unless he starts it."

"But-"

"Neville, don't believe anything Malfoy says," Harry interrupted. "You're worth twelve of him. The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."

Neville smiled weakly as he unwrapped the frog. "Thanks, Harry, Toshiro. I think I'll go to bed...D'you want the card, you collect them, don't you?"

He handed Harry the card that came in the box then trudged up to the boy's dormitory. Harry looked down at the card. "Dumbledore again," he sighed. "He was the first one I ever-" Freezing, he stared at the card then up at Ron and Hermione. "I've found him! I've found Flamel! I _told_ you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here - listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, _and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel'!_ "

Toshiro came over in curiosity just as Hermione shot to her feet, looking as excited as if she'd gotten extra credit. "Stay here!" She sprinted up the stairs to the girls' dormitory, Harry and Ron exchanged mystified looks, and Toshiro sat gracefully on the back of the couch. Most of the other students had already left, except for a couple sitting at a table on the other side of the room. When Hermione came back, she was carrying an old and thick book. "I never thought to look in here!" she whispered excitedly. "I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

" _Light?_ " Ron said, but Hermione told him to be quiet. Toshiro watched with some amusement as Ron closed his mouth with a disgruntled look. Hermione was frantically flipping through the pages, muttering to herself.

"I knew it! I _knew_ it!"

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" Ron muttered, and Hermione flipped the book around so they could read it. Toshiro studied the old scripts.

"Nicolas Flamel is the _only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone!_ "

She was probably waiting for some dramatic reaction, but all she got was Ron and Harry asking, "The what?"

"Oh, _honesly_ , don't you two read? Look - read that, there." Again the boys leaned forward, and Toshiro quickly scanned the section she was pointing out.

"See?" Hermione said once the other two boys had finished. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Sorcerer's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"

"A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying!" Harry exclaimed. "No wonder Snape's after it! _Anyone_ would want it."

"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that _Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry,_ " Ron said. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

 _He's long over-due in Soul Society,_ Toshiro thought. Hyourinmaru rumbled in agreement.

* * *

The next morning in Defense Against the Dark Arts, while copying down different ways of treating werewolf bites, Ron and Harry were discussing what they would do with a Sorcerer's Stone if they had one. Ron mentioned that he would buy his own Quidditch team, and Harry remembered something.

"Snape's going to be refereeing the next Quidditch match!" he whispered fiercely. Toshiro, sitting behind them next to Hermione, snorted softly.

"That explains why he suddenly hates you even more, Potter," he whispered. Both boys looked back, and Hermione glanced up. "He can't do anything drastic during the match, so he's taking it out on you now."

"P-p-please s-stop talking a-and g-ge-get back to-to work," Professor Quirrell stuttered from the front of the class. As he worked, Toshiro glanced up at the teacher. He wore a turban, which smelled terrible, and didn't seem to have any self-confidence. How he'd ever gotten the job, the Captain didn't know. He seemed to be scared of even the students. But, worst of all, he had a strange and dark Spiritual Pressure, much like that one he'd felt months ago when he'd been in the Forbidden Forest and seen something drinking the blood of a unicorn. He was wary of the teacher, and judging by the way Quirrell seemed to avoid him, the teacher was afraid of him. Perhaps it had been the glare that Toshiro had given him near the beginning of the year for spilling garlic sauce on him. Quirrell had stuttered out an apology and scurried out of the classroom, presumably to the bathroom to replace his soiled undergarments.

* * *

The day of the match drew closer, and with it, the nerves of the Gryffindor team rose. They desperately wanted to win the game and overtake Slytherin in the house championship, but doubted they could with such a biased judge. Harry wouldn't say it, but Toshiro could tell that he was terrified about what would happen during the game.

* * *

As the school took their seats around the Quidditch field, Ron and Hermione's mood was grim. They had said good luck to Harry before the boy-who-lived had gone to the locker room, but Toshiro thought they were wondering if they would see him alive again. Toshiro, however, wasn't worried. Despite Snape's obvious bias, he was still a teacher, and couldn't hurt a student. This was the main reason Toshiro doubted whether Snape had been the one cursing Harry the first match.

Toshiro, Ron, Hermione, and Neville were in the stands when Ron was suddenly hit in the back of the head. He twisted to see Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle grinning broadly.

"Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there," Malfoy said in his venomous voice. "Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you, Weasley?"

Ron didn't answer; Snape had just awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because George Weasley had hit a Bludger at him. Hermione was intently staring at Harry, who was circling the game like a hawk.

"You know how I think they chose people for the Gryffindor team?" Malfoy said loudly a couple minutes later when Snape awarded Hufflepuff another penalty for no reason at all. "It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money - you should be on teh team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."

Neville went red and faced Malfoy. "I'm worth twelve of you," he said, trying and failing miserably to sound brave. Malfoy smirked.

"Longbottom, if brains were gold, you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something."

Ron snapped, and Toshiro was barely able to hold him back. The icy Captain had been getting angrier and angrier, listening to Malfoy's taunts. "Malfoy, _be silent_."

"Oh, grandfather's mad," the boy laughed. "What's wrong? Need your walker?"

Toshiro wasn't quite sure how this was supposed to anger him. He didn't actually mind being called old. At all. "You need to-" He broke off as Hermione suddenly squealed and pointed. Toshiro twisted around to see Harry diving towards the ground. The crowd gasped and cheered as Harry came alarmingly close to the ground, then pulled up waving his arm madly. A little glint of gold was visible in his hand. Catching the Snitch this fast was apparently a record, as Toshiro learned later.

In fact, he, Hermione, and Ron were waiting outside the common room for Harry when the boy pulled them into an empty classroom. "You won't believe what I saw!"

"We won! You won! We won!" Ron cheered, clapping Harry on the back. "And I-"

"Weasley, be silent. Potter apparently has news," Toshiro snapped, seeing Harry's expression. "Potter, what do you have to report?" The boy gave him a grateful nod before telling the story of how he'd followed Snape into the Forbidden Forest and overheard his conversation with Professor Quirrell.

"So we were right, it _is_ the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy - and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus-pocus' - I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through-"

"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" Hermione asked in alarm.

"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," Ron said.

* * *

As the weeks went on, Quirrell seemed to get paler and thinner, but he didn't look as if he'd cracked yet. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Toshiro kept passing by the third-floor corridor to check that Fluffy was still growling inside. Toshiro only went along because he wanted to see a three-headed dog, and figured that Soul Society needed to know about a stone that could make humans immortal. He'd already sent a report to them, but Kurotshuchi had requested the actual stone for further study. Toshiro wasn't quite sure how he was going to do that, but figured tagging along with the Golden Trio was a good way to start. They always seemed to be getting in trouble.

The end of year exams were ten weeks away, and Hermione was already making study schedules and color-coding her notes. Toshiro wasn't worried about the tests - he could take them now and pass - but the other two boys were not, and the witch was bugging them to study. The boys protested and procrastinated, but the teachers suddenly started loading extra work on them, and almost all their free time was spent in the library studying.

Toshiro - who had much practice quickly getting through work - was soon done, so he practiced wand movements, but the boys were moaning about their thick stack of work. Even Hermione was still working. Toshiro was making a ball draw words in the air when Ron suddenly exclaimed, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

Toshiro let the ball drop into his hand and looked up to see the massive Groundskeeper shuffle into view, hiding something behind his back. He was wearing a moleskin coat, and looked very much out of place.

"Jus' lookin'," he said, sounding extremely suspicious. Toshiro's eyes narrowed, recognizing the tone. He'd heard it many times from subordinates who didn't want to tell him something, for some reason for another. It usually had to do with Rangiku, sake, and whether or not she was drinking at 'yet another bar!'

"For what?" he asked, adopting the tone he used with these subordinates. Hagrid looked at him.

"Nothin' much, jus' fer work. Anyway, wha're you lot up ter? Yer not still looking for Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," Ron said, sounding impressive. " _And_ we know what he's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St-"

"Shh!" Hagrid looked around, seeing if anyone was listening. "Don' go shoutin' it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," Harry said, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy-"

"SHHH!" Hagrid said again. "Listen come an' see me later, I'm not prominsin' I'll tell you anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh-"

"See you later, then," Harry said.

Hagrid shuffled off, and Hermione asked, "What's he hiding behind his back?"

Ron went to see what section he was in, and came back with an armload of books. "Dragons! Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons!"

"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him," Harry said.

"But it's against our laws," Ron said. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden - anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."

"But there aren't wild dragons in _Britian_?" Harry asked.

"Of course there are. Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."

"So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" Hermione asked.

"What's the Ministry of Magic?" Toshiro asked.

* * *

Later, after explaining the Ministry of Magic to Toshiro and going to Hagrid's hut, they knocked on his door. Hagrid asked who it was before letting them in; all the curtains in the hut were drawn, shutting out much of the light. Toshiro's gaze was immediately drawn to the fireplace, in which was a blazing fire, kettle, and a large black egg. Toshiro didn't care to go so close to a fire, but the egg drew him closer. Hyourinmaru rumbled in the back of his mind.

"A dragon egg," Toshiro whispered. Hagrid started.

"Ya, but how did yeh-"

"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" Ron asked, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. "It must've cost you a fortune."

"Won it," Hagrid said, glancing occasionally at Toshiro, who was still staring at the egg. "Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," Hagrid answered, pulling out a large book from under his pillow. "Got this one outta the library - _Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit_ \- it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here - how ter recognize diff'rent eggs - what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."

Hagrid looked pleased with himself, but Hermione didn't. "Hagrid, you live in a _wooden house_."

"Not to mention that a dragon isn't going to be cooped up in here," Toshiro said suddenly. "They like wide, open spaces. It's going to grow - fast - and you aren't going to be able to hide it anymore." Hyourinmaru rumbled in agreement.

Hagrid stoked the fire. "I know."

"Then-"

"What did yeh come 'ere fer?" Hagrid burst out, looking angry. Toshiro sighed and quieted as Harry answered.

"We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone apart from Fluffy."

Hagrid frowned and shook his head. "O' course I can't."

After this, Toshiro only half-listened, his eyes drawn to the dragon egg. It was probably because of Hyourinmaru that he felt protective of it, of the tiny life inside. Perhaps it was also because of Hyourinmaru that the egg rocked once, and he instinctively sent out a comforting wave of his reiatsu. He was reluctant to leave the egg, and paused in Hagrid's doorway.

"Take care of it," he said, looking the giant of a man in the eyes.

* * *

One morning at breakfast, Harry's owl, Hedwig, brought Harry a note from Hagrid, saying simply: 'It's hatching.' Ron wanted to go down immediately, but Hermione didn't want to skip classes.

"Shut up!" Harry whispered, seeing Malfoy pause nearby.

They ended up going to Hagrid's hut during morning break. Hagrid met them at the door, and ushered them inside. "It's nearly out," he whispered. Toshiro gave Hagrid a hard look.

Inside it was stiflingly warm, and the egg was lying on the table. It had deep cracks in it, and a clicking sound was emanating from it. Toshiro could feel its Spiritual Pressure - which was warm and irregular - was stronger than before. Toshiro knew Hagrid was right: the dragon was hatching. They sat in chairs around the table and watched as the egg rocked, softly then more violently, and with a startling scraping noise, it split open. The baby dragon flopped out. In his mind, Hyourinmaru cooed - a soft sound Toshiro hadn't heard him make before.

The dragon was black with spiny wings dwarfing a skinny jet body, a long snout and wide nostrils, horn stubs, and bulging orange eyes.

Toshiro immediately liked it.

It sneezed and a few sparks flew out of its nose.

"Isn't he _beautiful_?" Hagrid murmured. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's snout. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs. "Bless him, look, he knows his mommy!"

Hyourinmaru snorted. _"What?"_ Toshiro asked.

 _"The dragon thinks the giant's fingers look like sausages."_

Toshiro chuckled, but the others were to fascinated by the dragon to notice his out of character outburst.

"Hagrid, how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?" Hermione asked.

Hagrid was about to answer when he paled and rushed to the window. "Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains - it's a kid - he's runnin' back up ter the school."

Even as Harry bolted to the door and looked out, Toshiro concentrated. He could feel his, Hermione's, Ron's, Harry's, and Hagrid's - which was much less than the rest - reiatsu. And, moving away, was one he recognized. He made his conclusion just as Harry said the same name: "Malfoy."

* * *

Malfoy's smirk told them that he had indeed seen the dragon, but they didn't know what he was waiting for. Hagrid still had the dragon, and if Malfoy had told, then the school would have immediately taken it away. The Golden Trio and Toshiro went down to Hagrid's hut in their free time to help the Gamekeeper take care of it. It had tripled in length in just a week. They quickly found out that the dragon responded best to Toshiro - though they didn't know why, he did. Hyourinmaru loved the thing, which Hagrid called Norbert. Hyourinmaru laughed every time the name was said. They got Hagrid to agree to send a letter to Charlie, Ron's brother, to see if he would take the dragon.

When Toshiro was alone with the dragon, he released Hyourinmaru into his icy form so that he could play with the baby dragon. Despite their obvious size difference, they got along well. Hyourinmaru taught the hatchling about being a dragon - hunting, mannerisms, social order - all that and more. Hyourinmary would let the dragon climb up on him then slide down his tail. Toshiro would watch this and be glad that Hyourinmaru had a friend.

In order to help Toshiro control the dragon, Hyourinmaru taught him Draconic, the language of the dragons. It was very interesting, and Toshiro immediately took to it. He'd sometimes hear Hyourinmaru grumbling and couldn't make out the words, but now he knew why. Norbert's speech was far from coherent, as she was about the equivalent of a three year old. Still, it was entertaining.

One night, Harry, Hermione, and Toshiro were in the common room. Toshiro was at his usual place by the window, and the other two were by the fire. Summer had started to come, and Toshiro wasn't looking forward to the heat. He was going to hate it, he knew it.

Just as the clock chimed midnight, Ron burst in. "It bit me!" He held up his hand, which was bandaged. "I won't be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me, he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing a lullaby to it!"

"Norbert likes singing," Toshiro murmured. He had been dozing off when Ron had burst in, and his eyes were still closed.

"How do you-" Ron broke off, and something passed over Toshiro. He opened his eyes to see Hedwig drop a letter onto Harry's lap. It was a letter from Charlie, saying to bring the dragon to the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday, and some of his friends would take it.

 _Hagrid's going to be heartbroken,_ Toshiro thought.

 _"Yes, he is very attached to her."_

 _"Her?"_

 _"The dragon is female."_

 _"Seriously?! Why didn't you say so sooner?"_

 _"It was amusing."_

Now ignoring his laughing dragon, Toshiro said aloud, "Get your invisibility cloak. It should be big enough to cover two of you and Norbert."

There was silence, then Ron said, "You're smallest, mate, and it likes you best..."

"I am not short."

"Ah, don't worry about it. You're a kid like us; you'll grow."

"I am not a kid, and I suggest you never say that again."

"It likes you best..."

* * *

Saturday night, Toshiro and Harry made their way down to Hagrid's hut to get Norbert. Hagrid had packed him in a crate with chicken, brandy, and a teddy bear that sounded as if it were being ripped apart. Why Hagrid kept giving a _dragon_ alcohol, Toshiro had no idea. Luckily the dragon seemed to have immunity to it, as it never acted drunk. If it were, it might be worse than a drunk Rangiku.

Might.

Hagrid was sobbing and waving as they carried the dragon's crate back up to the school, and lugged it through corridors, up stairways - and then they faced the horror of the spiral staircase to the Astronomy tower. Toshiro was in much better shape than Harry, who was panting and struggling. But, just as they prepared to ascend, noise made them flinch into the shadows.

Professor McGonagall appeared, dragging Draco Malfoy by the ear. "Detention!" she yelled. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how d _are_ you-"

"You don't understand, Professor. Harry Potter's coming - he's got a dragon!"

"What utter rubbish. How dare you tell such lies! Come on - I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"

The stairs seemed nothing after that. After they made it, Harry threw off the cloak and practically did a jig. "Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!"

"Don't," Toshiro said sharply.

Norbert was restless in her cage, stirring and making small noises. Toshiro crouched by it, stroking her behind the ear. She leaned into his hand and purred, some smoke drifting out of her nostrils. He spoke softly to her, telling her to remain calm, and that she was going to be among other dragons now.

With this, she pulled away and blinked large orange eyes at him. _"Leave?"_ she whined, tears starting to blur her eyes. _"No! Stay with Hy-hy! Me stay!"_

 _"I'm sorry, but this is our only option,"_ Toshiro whispered, rubbing her nose in an attempt to get her to calm. She shook her head, banging it into the cage and rattling the bars.

 _"No! No! No!"_

Toshiro sighed, letting Hyourinmaru calm her. He was much better with children than he was, and the black hatchling was soon crouched at the bottom of her cage, sniffling. _"I'm sorry,"_ Toshiro whispered. She whined.

Charlie's friends came shortly after. They displayed the harness that they were going to use to carry Norbert, strapped her into it, and left. Hyourinmaru roared out a farewell to the young dragon as it disappeared into the night.

Harry and Toshiro were down the staircase before Toshiro remembered that they'd left the invisibility cloak up at the top. "I'll go get it." He turned and ran back up, but when he came down, Harry was nowhere in sight.

Concentrating, Toshiro found Harry's Spiritual Pressure in Professor McGonagall's office. Sighing, he put on the cloak and went there. The door was closed, but Toshiro could tell that no one other than Harry was in there, so he pushed it open. Harry twisted around in his chair and looked confused when he didn't see anyone enter. "It's me," Toshiro whispered.

"Toshiro!"

"It's Hitusgaya!"

"Filch caught me!"

Toshiro winced, but then McGonagall appeared leading Neville. "Harry!" Neville cried. "I was trying to find you to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag-"

Harry shook his head, but McGonagall had seen. "I would never have believed it of either of you. Mr. Filch says you were up in the Astronomy tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. _Explain yourselves._ "

Neither boy had an answer, and Toshiro wasn't about to show himself. As it was, he was concealing his reiatsu, unsure if Professor McGonagall could sense it or not.

McGonagall then said she believed that Harry had fed Malfoy the story about the dragon so Malfoy would get caught out at night and get in trouble, then found it amusing to tell Neville the same story. Toshiro rolled his eyes - that was so out of character for Harry - but Neville looked like he believed it. Poor boy.

McGonagall then gave them both detentions, and took one hundred-fifty points off Gryffindor. Toshiro scowled. That put them at last place. He couldn't believe the teacher would do that to her own house.

Once they were back in the Gryffindor tower boys' dormitory, Toshiro cast off the Invisibility Cloak. "I'm sorry," he said to Harry, who was dejectedly pulling out his pajamas. "I didn't know that Filch was there."

Harry sighed. "No, it's better you didn't get caught, too. If you had, we would have lost even more points than we did. I just worry about how the rest of the Gryffindors will take it."

Toshiro cast a glance around at the sleeping boys. "Not well."

* * *

The next morning, before anyone else was up, Toshiro was perched in his usual spot by the open window. He was also lowering the room's temperature, because although the fire shut off in the morning, he still preferred it colder. A slight breeze was rustling his gravity-defying hair, and he raised his chin slightly.

Footsteps on the stairs alerted him to the presence of another boy - as it was coming from the boy's dormitory. He felt the presence of Neville, and felt a slight stirring of pity for the boy. He had cried himself to sleep the night before, although the sobs were muffled, as if he had buried his face in his pillow.

"Hey, Toshiro," Neville said depressingly, sitting at a chair by the cold fireplace. He was already wearing his uniform, as was Toshiro.

The Captain barely felt it necessary to correct him on the usage of his name when the boy was already this sad. "What happened wasn't your fault," he said, gazing out the window. It looked out onto the rest of the school, and he could just see the dark line of the Forbidden Forest. "You were trying to warn Potter; that was a noble thing to do."

He didn't have to look back to see Neville's surprised expression. "How do you know?"

"Potter told me."

"And...you're not mad? About me losing us so many points?"

"You didn't lose the points all by yourself; don't beat yourself up about it. And no, I am not mad. But, I cannot say that will be the same for the other Gryffindors. I believe that they will be very angry."

The chair creaked, but the boy was silent.

Students passing the hourglasses that day were confused about how they could possibly have lost so many points in just a night. Then, the story spread. Harry Potter - the Boy-Who-Lived - had destroyed their hopes for getting the house championship that year.

For as much as Harry had been admired and popular, he was now hated and loathed. Even the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs had turned; they had wished to see Slytherin humiliated, and were as angered as the Gryffindors. He now couldn't walk the corridors without receiving glares and hearing whispers. Students walking past made sure to bump into him - occasionally knocking him down - and continue walking as if they simply stepped on a cockroach.

Neville, thankfully, had an easier time of it, since he hadn't been popular to begin with, but he still felt the repercussions. People now knew him, but not in the way he would like. He withdrew even further into himself, hardly speaking to anyone.

That morning, Harry and Neville received notes letting them know that their detentions were at eleven o'clock, and they were to meet Filch in the entrance hall. Toshiro read the note, and raised one white eyebrow.

"So, your punishment for being out during the curfew is to go out during the curfew?"

* * *

Harry and Neville were especially depressed that day as night approached, and when the time came to leave, they exited the common room, dragging their feet. Toshiro only felt mild sympathy for them, if that. They _had_ broken the rules, and they were being punished for that. Toshiro saw it as Harry finally being punished for the whole broom incident.

Only about half an hour after they left, Toshiro went up to the dorms to sleep. He had all his homework done, and the paperwork that Rangiku kept sending him was completed and tucked safely away. However, just as he pulled the covers over him, he felt the distinct pressure of a Hollow.

Damn creatures, always interrupting his sleep.

He soon swallowed a soul pill and was out the window heading towards the Forbidden Forest. The Hollows always appeared there. Maybe there was a breach in the wards surrounding the school somewhere near there. If so, he _really_ needed to fix it. It would really suck if a Hollow made its way onto campus. The closest one had gotten before he destroyed it was the edge of the forest, but if the students or teachers saw it, there would be massive panic. He would have to reveal himself to fight it, then call in a crew with memory modifiers and wipe the whole schools' memory.

Oh, the paperwork!

Toshiro shunpoed not far into the forest before he found the Hollow. This one was significantly stronger than any of the others, and he took much longer to defeat it than he would have preferred. The Hollow was large, standing on four legs, a long tail writhing behind it, and its bone mask stretched taut over its pointed face.

Wow, these things were ugly.

The hardest thing to deal with for this Hollow was its tail. It almost seemed to have a life of its own, and would come snapping up at him when he least expected it. And sometimes, when he was in the perfect position for it to strike, it wouldn't move.

"Make up your mind!" he yelled at it, after it came swinging around only to drop down, motionless. The Hollow turned to face him, mask sharp in the moonlight. It made a rasping noise and lunged at him, claws outstretched, but he shunpoed behind it, cutting off one of its arms in the process. It roared, reeling backwards, and he darted forward to slice through its mask. Relaxing, he let out a sigh and turned, only to have something smack him in the back, hurtling towards a tree.

The only thing that save him from face-planting into the bark were his reflexes. He flipped in mid-air and landed with his feet, pushing off the trunk towards the apparently not dead Hollow. But, he pulled up short, seeing that the tip of its tail was dissolving. He cursed and sheathed his sword, angry with himself. He'd let it get one last strike at him even _as it died_. What kind of Captain was he to make such a _stupid_ mistake?!

He turned, colliding with a dark hooded figure, and fell backwards onto the ground. The figure did the same, and they both stared at each other for a few long minutes. The hood concealed the upper portion of its face, but he could see silver liquid dripping from its mouth, like the unicorn blood that he'd seen months ago. Then, just as he made the connection, he felt its reiatsu. It was the same dark and twisted presence as before.

"What are you?" he asked at the same time as the creature spoke, echoing practically the same question.

"Who are you?" It's voice was raspy, and sounded vaguely familiar. Toshiro stood and dusted himself off, watching as the figure did the same. He moved with odd gliding movements.

"A student at Hogwarts." He didn't say anything else, wary of that reiatsu. It felt like it was studying him, hissing in frustration as it couldn't decode what he was. Still, it was much weaker than him, so he didn't worry too much.

"They don't carry swords." The figure raised one bony hand and pointed at the blade still in Toshiro's hand. He glanced down at it.

"Yeah...They don't, do they?"

The figure tilted his head to the side, and seemed to be arguing with itself, judging by the noises it was making. Toshiro could only barely make out some of the words, and he had to strain to hear them when it suddenly seemed to snap back to focus on him. "You are powerful," it rasped, and he nodded cautiously. "How powerful?"

"I...don't have anything to compare it to." He was thrown off by the unexpected question.

"I can sense much anger from you, little one," it breathed, and Toshiro tightened his grip on his sword.

"I am not little!"

"Much anger...you would do well...if you joined me..."

"Joined you? I don't even know who you _are_!"

The figure glided a step forward, and Toshiro instinctively took one back. He did not like this person, whatsoever.

"I am the..." It broke off, hearing a roar in the distance. Toshiro's head snapped up.

"Sorry," he said, backing away. "I'll go take care of that."

He disappeared with some shunpo. The darkly hooded figure stood in the forest, alone. "No one defies me!" he rasped, and moved in the direction the young boy wielding the sword had disappeared to.

* * *

His mouth hung open. He stared at the boy with the sword more than his own height talking to the dark figure. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

A student...with a sword. A _real_ , wickedly sharp sword. Suddenly, all their confusion about the mysterious boy dissolved, much like that Hollow he'd defeated earlier. What was he? Now it really wasn't hard a question at all.

Slowly, his mouth closed and the corners of his lips twitched into an impish grin. This was a _good_ opportunity.

When the boy with the sword disappeared, he turned, racing back to the school, not even bothering to swerve around the trees. After all, they couldn't hurt him. Once back at the imposing stone building, he passed through the walls searching for the one person he knew would listen to him. He zoomed through the halls until he found this person rattling his chains in the Astronomy Tower.

"Oh, Baron," he breathed, circling the bloody ghost in his excitement. "Remember the boy with white hair? The one Nick talked about?"

"Of course," the Baron replied, pausing and tracking the other ghost. "What about him?"

"I know why we fear him." The first ghost stopped and suddenly went close to the Baron to whisper in his ear. "I know why he emits death. He _is_ death."

"Speak plainly or don't speak at all!" The Baron irritably slapped him away. "What do you mean by this?"

The ghost's grin widened. He enjoyed stringing the Baron along like this, tormenting him with unfinished answers and cryptic words. "Think about it," he drawled, lounging in the air. "Why would the ghosts of Hogwarts fear a little boy? One who's aura radiates death and destruction, one who's eyes hide pain and knowledge? Think, oh-mighty Baron. What could make us fear just a _child_?"

The Baron growled, eyes flashing with anger. "Spit it out! I am in no mood for your games!"

The ghost paused, wary of the other's wrath, and weighed it against his own safety. "Fine," he grumbled, sitting upright. "The boy is not really a boy, despite his looks. I don't know how old he is, but he wields his sword very well. He fights and _kills_ the Hollows. I've seen him training. He has power beyond what we dreamed."

The Baron listened, increasingly nervous. "Who is he? _What_ is he?"

The ghost leaned forward, voice dropping to a whisper. "A Shinigami," he breathed.

The Baron's eyes widened, paling even further than he already was. He gripped the chains wrapped about him, and his face grew stormy. "Take him," he ordered, and the ghost's smile stretched impossibly wide. "Spread the word. Do you understand what I am saying, Peeves?"

"Yes, of course." Peeves shot away, to round up the rest of the Hogwart's ghosts, feeling giddy and excited.

Finally, some action.

And he was being given free reign.

* * *

 **That really sucks for Toshiro. Anyway, what'll happen? Stay tuned, and Friday you'll find out.**

 **Also, I am now a beta reader, and am willing to beta for anyone that wants help. So, just let me know, and I'll be happy to give my input.**

 **Happy reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm sorry about the delay! I have no excuses...except that school is rough and I have zero period so I don't get any sleep...sorry!**

 **Chapter 8 WILL be up on Tuesday.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter/Bleach. All rights go to J.K. Rowling and Tite Kubo.**

* * *

A figure in a dark hooded cloak glided through the forest at a quick pace, determined to find the boy who had disrespected him. He would make him pay. A quivering, pathetic voice interrupted his silent musings.

"M-master, are y-you sure about-t this?"

"Do you dare doubt me?!" He continued on but now his anger was focused on a different person.

"N-no, o-o-of c-course not! I just d-don't t-think it's a w-wise idea to-to go after t-the b-boy. Dum-Dumbledore-"

"Do not speak to me of _him_! He is worthless, a useless excuse for a wizard!" His raspy voice thundered through the forest.

The second person fell silent, whimpering. The figure continued in his gliding rush through the forest, but then suddenly stopped. He looked around, not seeing the boy he'd been chasing anywhere.

"M-Master, where a-are we?"

"Be silent," he snapped at the mewling voice. "We are in the forest."

"Su-sunrise is c-coming..."

The figure looked up at the paling sky and hissed sharply before turning and gliding away. "Next time, you will pay," he muttered.

* * *

Meanwhile, that same boy that he'd been following was fighting against a Hollow much more powerful than any of the ones before it. He barely dodged a claw, and landed heavily on his feet some distance away, panting. Then he glared at the Hollow with piercing turquoise eyes.

"How did you get past the wards?" he demanded, and the Hollow paused, a foot raised just above the ground.

"That is not your concern," the Hollow answered in a deep voice. "I came for the souls, the juicy souls, the delicious souls...There are so many souls, delightful souls, all ripe for eating...And you, little Captain...your soul...is calling, calling out, calling to be devoured..."

"No it isn't."

 _"Not literally; he must just mean that your soul smells good."_

 _"I wonder what it smells like,"_ Toshiro murmured absently, as the Hollow rambled on about souls. He took the opportunity to take a breather.

 _"Focus, Master!"_

 _"Right, sorry."_ He lifted his sword and stepped into shunpo just as a sharp claw passed through the space he had previously occupied. Toshiro, now positioned behind the Hollow, frowned. He really wasn't having a good night. With the exams just two days away, he felt the compulsive need to study, although he knew he could easily pass all of them. Still, he wanted to get back to the common room.

The Hollow turned with surprising speed, whipping a paw around to smack into him, but he lifted his sword to block it. The force of the blow, however, pushed him back several feet in the air. Then the Hollow curled its long claws around and pulled him to the ground, surprising him. Luckily for him, however, it seemed to get distracted even as it had him pinned under its paw.

"Dark, dark souls, foul souls, _delicious_ _souls_ ," it rambled, flat mask facing up into the wind like it was sniffing it. " _Good souls, tasty souls."_

Hyourinmaru was still in his hand, but the blade was on his left side, and his right arm was painfully crossing his chest. It really didn't help that the Hollow seemed to have forgotten about the Captain, and was absently muttering. It was pressing its full weight down on him, making it extremely difficult to breathe. His chest was hurting, presumably from the pressure. Toshiro lifted two fingers off the sword's hilt and roughly pointed them at the Hollow. "Hado #31: Shakkaho!" he grunted, and the red light exploded from his fingers. With a shrill screech, the Hollow recoiled, shaking its paw. Suddenly released from the pressure, Toshiro gasped for breath, sucking in air.

 _"Master, move!"_

The deep voice cut through his relief, and he twisted to the side, seeing the claw arcing down to pierce his heart. Toshiro rolled to his feet, movements slower than they normally would be.

 _"Thanks, Hyourinmaru."_

 _"Just pay attention! This is no time to be zoning out!"_

 _"Right. Sorry."_

He dodged another claw, backing away from the Hollow that was glaring at him. "Shinigami, deadly Shinigami, Captain, little Captain..."

"I'll ask one more time! How did you get past the wards?" Toshiro blocked a strike, and it pulled back slightly.

"Drawn, drawn by the souls, the rich souls, the wandering souls..." Toshiro sighed, seeing that he wasn't going to get anything useful from it.

He shunpoed forward, catching it off guard, and aimed a slash at its mask, but it was fast and brought an arm up to swat him away. Flipping in the air to dodge, Toshiro scowled and yelled, "Reign over the frosted heavens, Hyourinmaru!"

The ice dragon roared from the tip of his blade, and a crescent shaped one swung from his hilt on a short chain. The dragon smashed into the Hollow's raised arm, completely freezing it. Spinning his sword, Toshiro made it wrap around the arm then pull, the ice snapping easily. The Hollow roared as half its arm disappeared, and lunged forward in a blind rage straight at Toshiro.

Expecting this, the icy Captain shunpoed aside, twisting the ice dragon around for it to sink its fangs into the base of the Hollow's neck. The Hollow writhed, but the dragon hung on, teeth sliding deeper and deeper until they split the Hollow's spine. Hyourinmaru continued, grinding his jaws tighter and tighter until the neck below was hanging on by only a mess of stringy tendons and shattered bone.

The Hollow let out a strangled shriek and shuddered as Hyourinmaru's ice crept into its veins, stiffening muscles and cracking organs. Finally it went still and disappeared.

Toshiro let out a relieved breath, sinking down to the ground and putting Hyourinmaru back in his sealed form. As he sheathed the katana, his chest ached, and when he pulled apart the edges of his shihakusho he saw that his chest was dark with bruises, most likely from when the Hollow had him pinned. He considered using healing kido, but shrugged it off, since they would heal soon by themselves and he wasn't in any immediate danger.

He sat for a few minutes with his back against a tree, enjoying the cool air even as the sun slid above the horizon, before the heat set in. _"Good battle,"_ he said silently to Hyourinmaru, who clawed his nest of snow and ice, nodding. Toshiro let his eyes close, on alert and still relaxed, allowing himself to doze lightly. After some time, his internal clock told him to go back, so he rose stiffly and shunpoed back to his dorm, entering his body when he arrived. After getting dressed, he descended the stairs and left the common room. It was still a little early for breakfast to begin, but he wanted to just walk around a bit.

As he went down one of the moving staircases, it jerked into a motion, and he swayed a bit before getting his balance. Smirking a bit, he remembered how most students fell when the stairs moved while they were walking; it was gratifying that he could easily keep on his feet.

The stairs moved with a low grinding noise of stone against stone, usually ending with a thump against its new location. But this time it suddenly jolted under him, shuddering to a stop with its end hanging off in midair. Toshiro frowned and leaned over the railing, looking to the other end to see if something was blocking it, but couldn't make anything out.

His heart suddenly thumped in his throat as he felt his feet being swept from under him, tipping him over the rail. Luckily his training and instincts took over, and he gripped the railing, using his momentum to swing himself back up. He landed lightly with his legs folded, glaring around at the person who had dared to try to kill him. His angry turquoise eyes landed on not a person, but a ghost. A poltergeist.

"Peeves," he growled, right hand finding the wand tucked into his boot. "What the hell was that?"

The poltergeist was lounging in the air, a devilish grin firmly planted on his face. "I tried to kill you," he said simply, and his eyes shined. "I tried to kill you, little Shinigami."

Toshiro's eyes narrowed, but he didn't move from his crouched position on the railing. "Why?"

"I _can_." Peeves cackled and sat upright, swinging his legs. "Watch your back, little Shinigami. Or don't. I'll get you either way." He suddenly shot forward, passing over Toshiro's shoulder, and as he disappeared, the stairs lurched to life once again. Toshiro, still crouching, silently fumed.

* * *

When Harry woke up the next morning, his scar was still twinging painfully. He did his best to ignore it, even as he dressed and went down to the Great Hall for breakfast, but Ron and Hermoine could tell that something was wrong. So they asked him exactly that.

He relayed the events of the previous night of their adventure in the Forbidden Forest to Hermione and Ron.

"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Hermione suggested, but Harry shook his head.

"I'm not ill. I think it's a warning...it means danger's coming..."

Ron couldn't be bothered. "Harry, relax, Hermione's right, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once, and he's not going to try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."

"Yeah, I guess you're right..." He trailed off just as the bell rang, and they headed for their first class. Their first exam was the next Monday, and all the teachers were doing reviews. They sat in the class, for once focused, when the last person they expected to talk, did.

"Where's Toshiro?" Hermione asked quietly, looking around the room. The Japanese kid's distinctive white hair was nowhere to be seen.

Ron shrugged. "He's smart enough that he doesn't have to come." Hermione still looked nervous, but she stayed quiet. There was an anxious silence between the three as the lesson progressed, and as Professor Snape was lecturing them on the finer points of potion-making, the classroom door opened slightly - just enough for a small, not-so white-haired boy to slip in.

Snickers raced through the class as each student noticed his appearance. Loudest among these snickers was Ron. He had to put his head down on his arms to muffle the sound.

For his part, Toshiro only gave a small glare at each one laughing, then slid into an empty seat near the back of the class. Professor Snape faced him, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Would you be so kind as to explain why you are so late?" The unasked question hung in the air.

Toshiro sighed softly. "Peeves," he said simply. There were a few 'ahs' of understanding and empathy, then a few more snickers. Toshiro shot them a glare then pulled out his wand, and the snickers abruptly cut off. The classroom was utterly silent as he raised his white wand, and pointed it at his hair and muttered something, turning his dusted-pink hair back to its pristine white. Then he scowled around the room. "Can I help you?" he asked sarcastically, the warning clear, and the class hurriedly started up again.

* * *

The rumors started quickly, and as he walked through the halls, Toshiro noticed people whispering and glancing at him, obviously laughing. As he was a Captain, he was used to being the subject of rumors, but that wasn't to say that he didn't find them annoying. It seemed that everyone was noticing him, and that was something that he really _didn't_ need. Peeves had chased him through the halls as he made his way to Potions, a bucket of ground up pink chalk in hand. Toshiro had fled with shunpo and had thought he'd lost the poltergeist, but then the ghost passed through the wall and dumped the contents of his bucket. Toshiro couldn't get away fast enough.

Peeves - who had been annoying throughout the whole year - suddenly seemed to have a personal vengeance against him. For instance, now as he was walking down a deserted hallway, the rug under his feet suddenly jerked backwards, and he stumbled a bit before quickly righting himself and turning to glare at the cackling poltergeist.

"Why are you doing this?!" Toshiro demanded angrily, but the ghost simply disappeared through the wall. With an irritated humph, Toshiro turned and stalked back to the common room.

The next morning he woke up to find his dorm room flooded in pink confetti. At breakfast the ghost almost emptied a glass of strawberry milk on him (the Captain leaped back and it splashed instead on a startled Ron). He was studying by the lake when the water exploded up and he had to quickly shunpo back. He was walking back to the library when a book hurtled at his head. When he finally arrived at the library, he found the shelves draped in pink cloth.

Seriously - what did the poltergeist have with pink?!

But, despite the laughs the pranks drew from the other students, the games slowly became more serious. A brick was thrown at him, Peeves possessed the suits of armor and tried to lob off Toshiro's head, and tried to push him off the moving stairs. Toshiro was growing more and more annoyed, but the ghost just seemed to be having more and more fun.

Finally Toshiro snapped late Sunday when Peeves tossed a bucket of worms on him, and exited his gigai (after making sure no one was around, of course), grabbed Peeves by his shirt-front, and slammed him against the nearest wall, sword positioned at the ghost's throat. "Why are you trying to kill me?" he hissed angrily. "Answer me now, poltergeist, or I _will_ slit your throat!"

Peeves didn't seem worried by the threat or the razor-sharp metal held unwavering just above his collarbone. In fact, he laughed. "I was told to get you, little Shinigami, and there were no limits. And so I will get you, no matter what." He grinned, showing off-white teeth, then with a sharp movement, sank them into Toshiro's hand.

Toshiro cursed and flung him away, shaking his hand. There were several teeth-marks, and it was stinging badly. Toshiro cursed the ghost, who laughed and circled the tiny Captain, matching Toshiro's own profanities. Toshiro spun to track the poltergeist, then swung out with Hyourinmaru. The metal missed the ghost by inches, as he had twisted away, pushing off the wall to grab Toshiro by the shoulders. Toshiro fell backwards, gripping Peeves' shoulders then bringing his knee up and launching the ghost over his head and rolling lithely to his feet.

Peeves was much less graceful, but he rose up in the air and made a very rude gesture to the Captain. Toshiro growled and lunged with Hyourinmaru, feinting left then right and smacking the ghost with a good left. Peeves grunted, falling back and disappearing through the floor. Toshiro stood lightly and kept careful watch all around him.

Hands pulled at his ankles, and he tipped forwards. Using the momentum, he flicked his feet out of the poltergeist's grasp and kicked backwards, connecting solidly and hearing a loud _crack_ and a curse. Then he landed and pushed upwards with his hands, but two silvery-pale ones shot through the stone floor and grabbed him, pulling him down.

Toshiro hit his nose on the stone and tears flooded his eyes. He scrambled to his feet, blinking furiously to clear his eyes. The poltergeist was facing him a few feet away with a bitter look. He was rubbing his nose, which was now at an odd angle. Toshiro smirked.

The advantage to being a Shinigami was that he could touch ghosts (since he was dead himself), but the downside was that it went both ways. He could touch them; they could touch him. This made it much more equal, but Toshiro didn't mind. He would beat some respect into the ghost.

Toshiro's gigai was standing a few feet down the hall, watching with interest. Toshiro barely spared him a glance, only to make sure that no one else was watching them. It would be awkward to try and explain how he could touch ghosts, why he was fighting with one, and why there were two of him.

As he and Peeves faced off, a loud and deep voice made them jump. "Enough!"

Toshiro turned and raised his sword into a defensive position when he saw the Bloody Baron floating to his left and glaring at him. Toshiro hadn't felt him coming because these ghosts let out no reiatsu. The Baron fixed him with a glare then turned to Peeves.

"When I said 'take him', I meant get him so we could question him. I thought I made myself perfectly clear."

Peeves hissed, still rubbing his nose. "You weren't," he whined. "You told me I could do whatever I wanted!"

"No! What if Dumbledore had found you two fighting? This would be very hard to explain!"

"Baron-"

"Shut up!" The Baron turned back to Toshiro, flicking his chains angrily. "And you, Shinigami! What are you doing here?"

"I'm on a mission," Toshiro answered, sheathing his blade and reentering his gigai. "I'm here to investigate the wizards. _This one_ -" Here he scowled at Peeves, who dropped his hand from his nose and made a gesture clearly saying 'Come at me!' "Tried to kill me. I did nothing to provoke him."

The Baron wasn't appeased. "You are going to send us on."

"No, I'm not. You don't have chains; you aren't going to become Hollows, and therefore I have no reason to eliminate you." Toshiro rolled his shoulders, feeling the tightness of his chest, where he was still sore. "I _was_ going to leave you alone, but _someone_ has made me rethink my plans."

"How can we trust you? Your kind means death."

"I promise you that I have no intention of interfering with whatever deal you made to stay here. As long as you don't turn, I won't cleanse you."

The Baron stared at him for a long time, fingering his chains. "Fine," he said finally. "If you leave us alone, then we'll leave you alone."

"I agree." Toshiro inclined his head. "We still have the problem that Peeves wants to kill me."

"He will stay away from you."

"Baron!"

"Shut up! We will keep him under control."

"Thank you. If you keep your promise, I won't tell my superiors that you need cleansing."

"Then we are in agreement."

"Yes."

"Good day, Shinigami. Come, Peeves."

"Baron-"

"COME!"

* * *

 **If you could so kind as to review, I would greatly appreciate it. They make my day! All of you that have reviewed so far, THANK YOU! You are all wonderful! Even if you haven't reviewed, thank you so much for reading my story. It makes me happy that people enjoy what I make. Anyway, that's it for today!**

 **In response to Emiya 'The God' Shirou: I know, but my reasons for putting him in Gryffindor will be explained in later stories.**

 **Happy reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**What?! A new chapter on a SUNDAY?! *gasps in mock surprise* All will be explained in the author's note at the bottom.**

 **Disclaimer: All rights for Bleach/Harry Potter go to Tite Kubo/J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

The atmosphere Monday morning was somber. The Great Hall, normally filled with chatting students and the occasional food fight was now hushed as the kids laid out their notes for today's tests on the tables, sometimes asking questions with one another. The Golden Trio was no different. The three were hunched over their papers, and even Ron's rapid inhalation of food was slowed to a crawl as he poured over goblins and orcs, potions and effects, charms and usages. Harry was chewing a piece of bacon - the end flapping around in the air - and Hermione had forgotten breakfast altogether. She'd cleared a five foot radius around her with notes flung everywhere. She seemed to be panicking slightly as she muttered to herself, grabbed a paper, then tossed it aside and took up another. Everyone was in various stages of this panic, with the exception of one student: Hitsugaya Toshiro.

Said white-haired prodigy was sitting back and watching the proceedings with a certain degree of amusement while nursing a cup of tea. He had no need to frantically cram - he'd already studied - as his mission was to observe and see if they were a threat - and so he was the only one not terrified.

The bell rang and there was a collective groan from the frantic students. Biting back a chuckle, Toshiro finished off his tea and set it down, took up his bag, and casually strolled out.

 _"I hope you are going to at least try,"_ Hyourinmaru said, lifting his head. _"It seems a shame to waste an entire year here."_

 _"It is impossible for me not to try on a test,"_ Toshiro answered silently, making his way to Charms. _"I will do my best."_

 _"Good."_ Hyourinmaru put his head back down on a pillow of snow.

In Charms, Professor Flitwick told them they had to make a pineapple dance across his desk. Many students sighed in relief, but Toshiro frowned. They were told to wait outside and test individually, and when it was his turn, he asked a question that surprised the tiny teacher.

"Why are we doing something so easy as this?" He regarded the pineapple lying on the desk before him, not having drawn his wand yet. "This is not much of an exam."

Flitwick looked up at him - the first day of school Toshiro was delighted to find someone shorter than him - and blinked. "What?" he squeaked.

"There are so many Charms that you taught us, and yet you chose one of the simplest for our exam. Why? Do you wish to have a high pass rate?"

Professor Flitwick shook his head in earnest. "No, no," he said. "This _is_ one of the harder Charms. Many students do not pass. I believe you find this easy because you are such a smart student. Really, you should have been in Ravenclaw."

"Mm," Toshiro muttered. "Yes, I've heard of it. They have a library for a common room. That would be perfect to have."

It was true. When he'd first heard that the Ravenclaw common room had a _library_ , he had wanted to change. It seemed like something every House should have. Students didn't have to go to the real library; they could just go downstairs. All the Gryffindor common room had was a _fire_. Toshiro hated that thing. He really didn't know why the Sorting Hat had placed him in Gryffindor. Ravenclaw seemed the best fit for him.

"Yes, it is," Flitwick sighed happily. Then he shook his head to clear it. "Well, we should get on with the test, no?"

It was ridiculously easy. Toshiro withdrew his wand from his boot, flicked it while reciting a simple spell, and the pineapple came to life. It teetered across the desk, then leaped into the air and spun gracefully. After a minute Toshiro allowed it to come back down and rest gently on the desk. Flitwick clapped happily and wrote something on his clipboard.

"Perfect! Just perfect! Well done, Hitsugaya! Well done!"

"Thank you, Professor." Toshiro put his wand back in its place, then exited the classroom.

* * *

His next exam - History of Magic - was after a small break. It was a written test, and they took it in a large and stuffy room. Toshiro immediately scowled when he walked in and automatically lowered the temperature. The teachers were perplexed by the sudden change, but were forced to let it go when they realized no one had used a spell.

The test was long and dry and utterly boring, but Toshiro was one of the first to finish. He handed it in to the teacher, Professor Binns. The ghostly Professor gave him a small nod, and Toshiro knew that the ghost had heard what had happened between him, Peeves, and the Baron. He and the ghosts were now tolerating each other; they wouldn't act unless the other instigated it. And that was all he asked for.

Transfiguration was his next exam after lunch. Professor McGonagall asked them to turn a mouse into a snuffbox, and they got extra points for how pretty it was. Toshiro's ended up being black with silver trim and latch. There were curling thorns in silver winding around the edges. Stopping to write something down, McGonagall nodded and moved on.

During Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Quirrell kept glaring at him. It was slightly unnerving, but Toshiro finished the test and left as soon as he could. He could feel two eyes burning holes in his back.

* * *

Finals week seemed to drag on forever, despite the fact that all the exams were disappointingly easy. The school year was ending, and he just couldn't wait to get home and for things to go back to normal. He was ready to take back charge of his division, even if that meant making his entire division go through detox. Hopefully there was at least _one_ that Rangiku hadn't turned into an alcoholic. They weren't all drunkards...right?

Toshiro sat in his final exam - Potions - waiting for his mixture to boil for _exactly_ twenty seconds, and thought about how much paperwork there'd be. He certainly hoped it wouldn't flow out when he opened the door, but he wasn't exactly going to bet on it. She'd probably just created a second floor with it.

Snape prowled around the classroom studying everyone's cauldrons, still limping slightly. Toshiro watched him, wondering - not for the first time - why he hated Harry so much. It wasn't just the fact that he disliked all Gryffindors; there was something more to it, something that Toshiro didn't have knowledge of. That frustrated him.

* * *

Finally, _finally,_ exams were over. Toshiro reclined in the shade by the lake, Hermione, Ron, and Harry not far away. Summer was definitely coming, and the heat could be seen shimmering just over the ground, but in the shade it was soothing. Toshiro found himself unable to keep his eyes open, and so he allowed them to slide closed. He rested his head on bent arms, and took long, deep breaths. He could hear the giant squid splashing in the lake, the singing of birds, and the high-pitched chatter of happy students, but he let these sounds wash over him.

He was relaxed, and he didn't want anything to ruin that.

So when the Golden Trio scrambled to their feet and dashed off - Hermione pausing briefly to yell at him to follow - he was suitably annoyed. He opened one eye, then rose lazily and followed slowly.

When he caught up with them, they were talking to Hagrid, who was rocking in a chair outside his hut. Toshiro leaned against the wall and listened, still feeling the pull of sleep. "...wouldn't take his cloak off," Hagrid was saying. Toshiro stiffened, thinking of the person wearing the dark cloak in the Forbidden Forest.

 _"Do you think it's the same one?"_ he asked Hyourinmaru.

The great ice dragon stirred from his nest of snow. _"It could well be. It sounds like too much of a coincidence for it to be a different person."_

 _"Yeah..."_ When he tuned back in, they were still talking.

"...see...yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted...but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn't want it ter go ter any old home...So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy..."

"And did he - did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked.

"Well - yeah - how many three headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o'cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep-" He suddenly looked horrified. "I shouldn'ta told yeh that! Forget I said it! Hey - where're yeh goin'?"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had run back up the hill. Toshiro watched them go, then turned back to the half-giant. "Thank you, I guess."

"Make sure they don' do any'thin stupid, yeh hear?" Hagrid's eyes were pleading. Toshiro sighed.

"I'll do my best, but you know what they're like." With that, he turned and ran after the three humans, following their reiatsu signatures.

* * *

When he found them, he walked up just in time to see Professor McGonagall drop her books, looking extremely surprised. "Oh, what have you three done now?" he asked dryly, bending down and gathering up the books.

"You're in this too, Mr. Hitsugaya?" she said, glaring down at him. Toshiro shrugged.

"Depends on what 'this' is."

"Well, I don't know how you all found out about the Stone, but rest assured, it is well protected." McGonagall snatched the books back, fixing them all with a stern look. She reminded him of his teachers back at the Academy.

"But Professor-"

"I suggest you all go out and enjoy the sunshine." With that she marched off, and the trio immediately started discussing how Snape was going to steal the stone that night. Toshiro rolled his eyes and jogged to catch up with the Professor.

"They're too nosy for their own good," Toshiro said, keeping her pace. She had much longer legs, so he couldn't match her step. The Professor simply nodded, so he continued. "I really can't believe that you would rest your world's survival on the shoulders of an eleven year-old. Really, what do you expect him to do?"

McGonagall stopped, looking down curiously. "What makes you think he's going to save the world?"

"Because you all believe it." Toshiro leaned casually against a wall, but inside he was nervous, and angry. Angry at these people for putting such a pressure on a boy. "You call him the 'Chosen One', but only because he survived the Killing Curse. But he didn't do anything. He was just a baby; he shouldn't get such fame for nothing."

"He didn't do nothing, Mr. Hitsugaya," McGonagall said gently. "He is the _only_ one to survive that spell. Something is obviously different about him, something special."

"Special is not always good," Toshiro frowned. "Being special can be a curse."

 _"Easy, Master,"_ Hyourinmaru said, seeing a snowstorm start in his inner world. Toshiro took a deep breath.

"Putting so much pressure on such a young boy can not be good for him. He already has a big enough ego as it is, but the world patronizing him could make him do things just to feel like he is living up to their standards. And he is too young to know not to do them."

McGonagall blinked in surprise. "You sound knowledgeable about this," she said. "You must have had a hard life."

Toshiro suddenly met her gaze, eyes narrowed. "You do not know me," he said stiffly. "You do not know of what you speak."

"I meant no offense, Mr. Hitsugaya."

He released a breath. "No, I should not have overreacted." He pushed gracefully off the wall. "I think it is best if we end this conversation for now."

"Yes..." McGonagall watched him walk away. _What has that_ _boy gone through?_ she wondered.

* * *

Toshiro slowly wandered through the castle, mind occupied with what McGonagall had said, what the trio were going to do, and Hagrid's words to him. They way the three operated, he might not be able to keep his promise to the half-giant. He noticed that no ghosts approached him, although he saw them. They were holding to their contract.

Turning a corner, Toshiro sighed. It had been such a simple mission. Find out whether the wizards were a threat or not. Why had it become so complicated?

Passing by the banned third-floor corridor, he saw Professor McGonagall berating the three for hanging around there. She didn't notice Toshiro approaching, and stormed off. "You should really annoy her less," Toshiro said idly. "She is our house head, after all."

"At least Hermione's still tailing Snape," Harry replied glumly.

"Why is she tailing Snape?"

"To make sure he doesn't get into the room."

"Then why are you here?"

"We were keeping an eye on it."

Toshiro sighed again, following as they made their way to the common room. _Children's logic._

They had just reached the portrait of the Fat Lady when Hermione came through. "I'm so sorry, Harry!" she wailed. "Snape came out and asked me what I was doing, so I said I was waiting for Flitwick, and Snape went to get him, and I've only just got away, I don't know where Snape went."

"Well, if Snape was getting Flitwick, then you should have followed him," Toshiro said calmly. "You could have killed two birds with one stone."

Hermione looked at him with something akin to panic. "But I was never waiting for Professor Flitwick!"

"Did he know that?"

They stood in an awkward silence before Harry said, "Well, that's it then, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" Toshiro asked.

"I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."

" **Baka** ," Toshiro said.

"You're mad!" Ron yelled.

"You can't!" Hermione exclaimed. "After what McGonagall and Snape have said? You'll be expelled!"

"SO WHAT?" Harry shouted. Toshiro blinked, surprised at the conviction in his voice. Was he really willing to be expelled just to protect a Stone from a teacher? Toshiro reevaluated Harry. "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter anymore, can't you see? Do you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the House Cup? If I get caught before I get to the Stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there, it's only dying a bit later than I would have, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side! I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you three say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?"

There was a stunned silence for a few minutes. Then, with a somber tone that surprised all three, Toshiro said, "If you go into a battle with naught but hate in your heart, you _will_ be cut down. Trust me; I know."

Harry stared at him, lips curling down into a frown. "Well, you're not going to stop me!"

"I know," Toshiro said calmly. "That's why I'm going with you. For some reason I don't want you to die, and I can help with that."

"That means you like him, mate," Ron said, grinning. "You think of Harry as a friend."

Toshiro scowled. Hermione turned to Harry.

"He's right. We're not letting you go alone."

"W-we?"

"We're all going, mate. Hope the cloak's big enough for all of us."

"But if we get caught, then you're going to get expelled, too!"

"Not if I can help it," Hermione said grimly. "Flitwick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve points on his exam. They're not throwing me out after that."

"Yeah, and who knows what Toshiro got," Ron grinned.

"It's Hitsugaya!"

"I don't want you to get hurt," Harry said, looking at all of them. "I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if you..."

"Trust in us." Toshiro glared Harry in the eye. "We're not helpless, you know. Who knows, even Weasley might be helpful."

"That's right, I - hey!"

* * *

Dinner seemed to drag on forever. They were too nervous to eat, with the exception of Toshiro, who was used to battle. He could hide his nerves. He had to. It would do his subordinates no good if their Captain was too nervous to hold his sword steady. No, he was used to being the symbol of strength for his division. Now his division had been replaced with two barely-trained eleven year old wizards and a witch. This would go _so_ well.

After dinner, they retreated to their common room, sitting apart from the rest of the kids. No one bothered them; none of the Gryffindors wanted to talk to Harry any more. He didn't seem upset by their feelings tonight, however. Hermione was pouring over her notes, hoping to find something that could help them with the protective enchantments they were going to face. It was an action that Toshiro found understandable and perhaps valuable, but the fact was that they didn't know what they would find apart from Fluffy, and so didn't know what to study. Still, he himself was going over some spells, just in case.

Harry and Ron weren't talking much. That wasn't really a surprise.

As the night aged, the room slowly emptied and the students drifted off to bed. Ron muttered that they should get the cloak, and Harry stumbled upstairs to get it. Toshiro closed the book he was reading and set it down on the coffee table to wait for the black-haired wizard. When he came back with the cloak, they were relieved to find that it covered all of them, but the quarters were close. Toshiro in particular was uncomfortable; he didn't like people touching him, but to do this he needed to be stuck under a cloak with three other kids. Wonderful.

"What are you doing?" a voice said, making them jump. They turned to see Neville peering over the back of an armchair, his toad, Trevor, in his hands.

"Nothing, Neville, nothing," Harry said, quickly shoving the cloak behind his back and out of Neville's view. Neville stared at their plainly guilty faces. Well, three faces. Toshiro's was sculpted into an emotionless mask, one that could rival Kuchiki's.

"You're going out again."

"No," Hermione said just as Toshiro said, "Yes." Everyone stared at him.

"Why bother lying to him?" Toshiro shrugged. "It's obvious what we're doing. To answer your question, yes, we are going out, Neville. But this time we have a goal and we are going to see it through, no matter what."

"But you can't go out. You'll be caught again, and we'll lose even more points. Our House can't take that."

"You don't understand," Harry protested. "This is important."

Neville suddenly scrambled over the chair to stand in front of the portrait hole. "I won't let you do it! I won't let you hurt our House even more!"

"Longbottom, move," Toshiro said, taking a step forward. Neville was visibly trembling, but he didn't move. Toshiro respected him a little for that. "This is four against one. There is no way you can win. Step down."

"No! I won't!"

"Neville!" Ron exploded. "Get away and don't-"

"Very well," Toshiro cut in, pulling his wand from his boot. "If you won't move, that leaves us with one choice." Ignoring Neville's wide-eyed terrified look and the gasps from the Golden Trio, Toshiro pointed his wand at Neville. " _Petrificus Totalus_." Neville's arms snapped to his sides. His legs sprang together. His whole body rigid, he swayed where he stood and then fell flat on his face, stiff as a board.

Toshiro slid his wand back into its place in his boot as Hermione turned the still boy over. Neville glared up at them, that being the only thing he could do.

"I'm so sorry," Hermione said to him.

"We had to, Neville, no time to explain," Harry said.

"You'll understand later, Neville," Ron finished.

As they made their way through the portrait hole, Toshiro paused and swiftly caught Trevor, who was steadily hopping away, and tucked him in a small bowl nearby, turning it over so it made a dome. "So he won't get lost," Toshiro said softly, then followed the Golden Trio.

* * *

The Fat Lady was confused when she swung open but no one (that she saw) came through. She called out, but they were already hurrying away.

In their heightened state of nerves, every whisper of wind sounded like Filch's cat Mrs. Norris, every shadow looked like it could hold the caretaker himself, and every rustle could be Peeves dropping down on them. Even Toshiro was wary of the ghost; he had a murderous streak, and the Baron seemed like the only one who could control him.

They found Mrs. Norris at the foot of the first set of stairs, and sidled cautiously past her. Her ears twitched and looked in their direction, but didn't do anything. Ron wanted to kick her, but Harry rejected the idea.

They were almost to the third-floor when they ran into one of their worst fears. Peeves. He was loosening the carpet on the staircase, and looked up when they approached. "Who's there? Know you're there, even if I can't see you. Are you a ghoulie or a ghostie, or wee student beastie?" He rose up in the air, looking all around. "Should call Filch, I should, if something's a-creeping around unseen."

Toshiro growled softly. "Peeves, go away. Don't tell anyone we were here."

Peeves' eyes widened as he recognized the voice, and he quickly zoomed away. Ron, Harry, and Hermione looked at Toshiro in amazement. "How'd you do that?" she asked.

"Yeah, mate, how'd you get the _poltergeist_ afraid of you?"

"We have a mutual understanding," Toshiro answered. "Now, are we going to keep going?"

They did and soon came to the door without any other problems. Hermione didn't have to unlock it, as it was already ajar. "See, Snape's already got past Fluffy," Harry said glumly.

"You never know," Toshiro injected lightly. "Fluffy could have eaten him and Snape never got the chance to get out and close the door."

It was silent for a moment. "You're a dark little guy," Ron muttered.

"I am not little, and it would do you well to remember that."

Inside, Toshiro got his first look at the three-headed dog. Like the name, it was...well, three-headed. That's really all you get in the beginning, seeing the three slavering, _massive_ heads, each with its own set of razor-sharp of teeth. Once you get over that, you notice that it is black, and looks faintly Doberman-like. When they entered, the three heads rose, wet, black noses twitching.

"Anyone sing?" Hermione asked. Ron, Harry, and Toshiro immediately shook their heads.

"You don't want to hear my singing," Toshiro warned her gravely.

Harry took a wooden flute from his pocket and blew a note; Fluffy's eyes started to droop despite the terrible sound. Toshiro winced, thinking even Hisgai's guitar playing was better than this.

They made their way over to the slumbering dog; fortunately he'd fallen asleep without blocking the trapdoor, and they were able to pull it open. It opened into a pit of darkness. Harry - who was still playing - gestured to himself then the pit. Ron was able to translate him.

"You want to go first? Are you sure? I don't know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to Hermione so she can keep him asleep."

Harry handed it to Hermione, and jumped into the pit after giving a few last minute instructions to send an owl to Dumbledore if he died. Toshiro watched the blackness swallow him up, feeling a flutter of nerves. He didn't like charging into unknown situations, and this qualified exactly.

Ron went next, then it was Toshiro's turn. He stood on the edge of the pit and looked back to Hermione. "Good luck," he said, turned, and jumped.

Cool air rushed past him, but only a short distance before something slammed into him from the side and he hurtled away.

* * *

Hermione watched her friends leap into the dark hole and continued to play the flute Harry had handed her, the notes random and flat. After Toshiro disappeared, she took a deep breath to steady herself, and jumped.

She fell for some time before landing on something soft. Luckily there was light from an unknown source, and she could see her surroundings. Her heart stopped upon taking in what was around.

"Stop moving! I know what this is - it's Devil's Snare!" She sat as still as she could as the plant's vines wrapped around her ankles. More started winding around the boys, but they kept struggling and pulling at the plants.

"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," Ron called, leaning back and tugging a strand from around his throat.

"Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" Hermione was in deep thought, and she couldn't help but pull at the vines. Her heart felt like it was trying to beat its way out of her chest; she didn't blame it, she would escape if she could just - "I've got it! It likes the damp and cold!"

"So light a fire," Harry choked out. Hermione could see the panic in his eyes, and in Ron's.

"Yes - of course - but there's no wood!"

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"

"Oh, right!" She whipped out her wand and muttered a spell, sending a jet of blue flames at the plant, which cringed away from the light and warmth. It loosened its grip on the children and they were able to wriggle free. "That way!" She pointed at a stone passageway which appeared to be their only way out.

As they walked, the only sound apart from their footsteps was the water dripping down the walls. Hermione, walking at the back, suddenly stopped and turned frantically around.

"What is it?" Harry asked, hearing her stop.

"Where's Toshiro?" she cried, not seeing him. "He jumped before me - where is he?"

The white-haired Japanese kid was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

 **What happened to him? Soon you will find out. Very soon.**

 **I have a confession to make. I just finished this story. There are eleven chapters in total. I will now be posting the new chapters every other day until I finish. So, chapter 9 will be on Tuesday, 10 on Thursday, 11 on Saturday.**

 **The second story in THIS UNIVERSE-THING is called Year 2: The Chamber of Delightful Coolness. By my calculations, the first day that I will be posting Y2:TCDC will be on TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6th. Normal Tues/Friday posting will resume after that.**

 **I hope to see you then!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: All rights for Bleach/Harry Potter go to their respective owners.**

* * *

They searched for Toshiro for several minutes, but didn't find him. It seemed that he'd just disappeared into thin air.

They continued on, despite Hermione's panicking and grumbling, alternating between worry for the boy and threats to kill him when they found him. The tunnel they were walking along sloped steadily downwards, seeming without end. Harry wondered if they would ever get out, if they would ever get the Stone, if they would ever find-

"Can you hear something?" Ron asked in a whisper. They stopped. Sure enough, a soft rustling and clinking sound seemed to be coming from up ahead.

"Do you think its a ghost?" Harry questioned hopefully. Ghosts were good. Ghosts were friendly. Ghosts weren't deadly.

"I don't know...sounds like wings to me."

"There's a light ahead - I can see something moving."

They moved forward into a large, well-lit chamber with a high, arched ceiling, and the air filled with hundreds of jewel-bright birds. On the other side of the room was a heavy wooden door. The birds - fluttering and tumbling all around - partially obscured their view of it.

"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" Ron asked.

"Probably," Harry answered. "They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once...well, there's no other choice...I'll run." He took a deep breath, covered his face with his arms, and sprinted across the room. He expected to feel sharp beaks and claws tearing at him at any second, but nothing happened. He reached the door untouched. He pulled the handle, but it was locked. Ron and Hermione joined him, and tried various ways to get the door open. Nothing worked.

"Now what?" Ron said.

"These birds...they can't be here for decoration," Hermione murmured thoughtfully.

They watched the birds, then Harry suddenly burst out, "They're _key's_ , not birds! Winged keys - look carefully. So that must mean..." he looked around and spotted several broomsticks on the other side of the room. "We must have to catch them."

The other two groaned but made their way over to the brooms. Rising up, they attempted to catch the darting keys, but the things were so fast that it was impossible for the inexperienced two to catch any. Even Harry was having a difficult time grabbing any.

"Look! The door!" Hermione's shout pulled them from their chase, and they looked towards the door, gaping in shock. It was becoming pale, and it wasn't until they got closer that they realized it was icing over. The ice crept out from the center and engulfed the whole thing.

"What's happening?" Harry spoke quietly, as if not to disturb the others. They shook their heads.

Harry put his palm on the door and quickly pulled back, feeling the freezing cold. "I don't think we'll be able to t-" A thunderous _boom_ cut him off. The door, now frozen solid, juddered in its hinges, cracks spreading across. It shook again, and the noise almost deafened them. They dropped the brooms and covered their ears, wincing at the loud noises, but then the door crumbled.

It was as if its structure had suddenly given up, saying: 'I don't even care anymore', and broke into pieces. Harry jumped back, as did Ron and Hermione. They waited a few minutes to see if anything else would happen, and when nothing did, they cautiously picked their way over the frozen rubble and made their way into the room beyond. And gaped.

This room was smaller and darker than the previous one. But there was one huge difference that they all noticed immediately.

It was covered in ice.

The frozen liquid clung to everything, making the flickering lights shine and reflect spectacularly. Everything - including the ceiling, walls, floor, and chess pieces - were covered in the stuff. The room itself was freezing, and they rubbed their arms to get some warmth.

"What happened here?" Ron asked, looking around and moving to stand beside the black chessmen.

"I don't know." Harry put his hand on one of the horses' sides. It was cold to the touch - it _was_ ice, after all.

"Do we have to play?" Hermione asked, looking decidedly uncomfortable. Out of all three, she was the worst at chest. It was one of the few things that she didn't excel in.

"Looks like it," Ron answered, pointing to a door behind the white pieces. He then looked up at a black knight. "Do we - er - have to join you to get across?" The stone sprang to life; the horse pawed the ground and the knight nodded its helmeted head. Ron turned back to the other two. "This needs some thinking about...I suppose we've got to take the place of three of the black pieces..."

They stayed silent, content to let him take charge. He was the best at chest, and neither would be much help if they tried to contribute in strategy.

Finally Ron spoke. "Harry, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, you go next to him instead of that castle."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to be a knight."

Apparently the chessmen were listening, as a knight, a bishop, and a castle left the board, leaving three empty squares which Ron, Harry, and Hermione took. They looked across the board at the white chessmen, their imposing frozen faces seeming to leer at them. They shivered - and not just from the cold.

"White plays first at chess," Ron said, startling the others. They'd fallen silent. "Yes...look..."

A white pawn had moved forward two squares. It moved with a crunching sound, and ice flaked off from around its joints.

Ron started to direct the black pieces. They moved with the same crunching noise, and more ice fell onto the board. Ron then told Harry to move diagonally four squares to the right, and he did so.

In wizards' chess, the pieces actually destroyed each other when they came together, instead of just being knocked out like in Muggle chess. It seemed to be the same in this chess. Their other knight was taken by the white queen, smashing him to the floor and dragging him off the board, where he lay quite still, facedown.

"Had to let that happen," Ron said, trying to sound brave but very pale. His red hair and freckles stood in stark relief on his face. "Leaves you free to take that bishop, Hermione, go on."

Every time they lost a man, the white pieces showed no mercy, and vice verse. Very soon there was a pile of broken black and white players slumped along the wall. Ron did his best to notice when Harry or Hermione were in danger, figuring that they would suffer the same fate as the chessmen before. He darted around on his horse, taking out almost as many white pieces as they had lost.

Soon the game ground to a halt, with everyone waiting to see what Ron would do next. He muttered to himself, then seemed to come to a realization. "Yes...it's the only way...I've got to be taken."

"NO!" Harry and Hermione shouted.

"That's chess!" Ron snapped. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I take one step forward and she'll take me - the white queen - that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!"

"But-"

"Do you want to stop Snape or not?"

"Ron-"

"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!"

There was nothing else they could do. Ron moved his horse forwards, and the white queen pounced. She swung out with her arm, striking Ron and the horse with one blow. The horse splintered under the red-head who went flying, landing on the floor off the board. Hermione screamed but stayed on her square. Harry moved shakily to a square three to his left.

"Checkmate," he said quietly, but the king seemed to hear him perfectly well. He removed his crown and threw it to Harry's feet. The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead clear. With one last desperate look back at Ron, Harry and Hermione charged through the door and up the next passageway.

They had won, but at what cost?

* * *

Darkness. Heat. A soft rustling of fabric across - what was it? stone? - and a tapping of shoes on the same substance. This floor - which had to stone - was cool, despite the warm air, and he lay still for a few moments, head pounding.

As he lay in the cool and hot room, his memory slowly came back to him. Of falling through the trapdoor, being slammed to the side, and dropped into a room full of black and white chess pieces. They had been taller than him - taller than a fully grown human - and attacked him when he attempted to get through a door behind the white pieces. He had angrily forced his way out of his gigai and fought the pieces; they were resilient, if nothing else. He sent two crashing back against a door across the room, and that was when the pieces had given up. They watched him with unblinking eyes as he left through the door, but made no move to stop him after going back into his gigai.

There was that dark reiatsu this way - the same one he'd been feeling for months. The one belonging to the cloaked figure in the Forbidden Forest. Toshiro's patience was out. He was going to find it, and he was going to kill it.

After he had passed through the door, he found himself in a short passageway. It took little time to cross it and open the door. On the other side, the first thing he noticed was the smell. It was disgusting, making him want to gag. As it was, he put his sleeve over his nose and attempted to ignore it. Sprawled before him on the floor was the same troll from Halloween - the one that Ron had knocked out with its own club. It seemed the same fate had befallen it, as there was a large, bloody lump on its head.

Toshiro had picked his way around it, in a very bad mood.

The next door led to a small room with a table and seven oddly shaped bottles placed in a line on top. There was a long riddle scrawled on a parchment nearby, which he ignored. Purple flames engulfed the doorway behind him, and black flames the doorway on the other side of the room. Growling, Toshiro froze the ground, stopping the flames, and passed through the door.

He had time to take in only the large, round room, the domed ceiling, and the tall mirror in the center before a flash of light hit his shoulder and he fell unconscious.

Now he woke, with a headache and in a very bad mood.

He heard the rustling and tapping stop, but held still. In uncertain situations like this, you took every opportunity you could get, and acting like you were still out was a good way to get the upper hand. Unfortunately, luck wasn't with him this day.

"I know you are awake, boy," a high-pitched voice said. Toshiro frowned and slowly sat up, blinking to clear his vision. What he saw made him do a double-take.

"Quirrell?" This couldn't be right. Quirrell's reiatsu wasn't this dark and twisted. What was going on here?

"That's right. But that isn't the main concern here. The question is: What are _you_?"

Toshiro draped his arms over his bent knees. "I am a student at Hogwarts."

Quirrell scoffed, turning his back on the Captain to run his hands over the mirror. "I think we all know there's more to it than that. But I suppose it doesn't matter. I'll get the Stone, kill you, and leave before that fool of a Headmaster even realizes his mistake."

"Why do you want the stone?" Toshiro let his hand drop closer to his boot.

Quirrell didn't seem to be listening, as he was muttering to himself. "I don't understand...is the Stone _inside_ the mirror? Should I break it?"

"If you're talking to me, I don't even know why the mirror's here," Toshiro called. His fingers brushed against the handle of his wand. Suddenly, a new voice made him freeze.

"Use the boy...Use the boy..."

Quirrell suddenly whipped around. "Yes - boy - come here."

Toshiro was reluctant to get up - he was so close to getting his wand - but stood and slowly walked over. Quirrell nodded, gesturing with his fingers.

"Stand there. Look into the mirror. What do you see?"

Toshiro looked. He remembered Harry telling him about this mirror - what was it called? oh, it wasn't important - and thinking that it sounded very interesting. Now, as he stood before it, he saw...nothing. He didn't even see himself.

"Well?" Quirrell said impatiently. "What do you see?"

Toshiro shook his head. "Nothing," he answered, wonder creeping into his voice. "Nothing..."

"Get out of the way." Quirrell pushed him aside to stare into the mirror. "It's not broken..." He whipped around to face Toshiro. He was now tightly gripping his wand. "What are you?"

Toshiro opened his mouth, but someone else interrupted him. " _Expelliarmus_!" Toshiro jumped back as there was a flash of light and Quirrell's wand went flying out of his hand. Both Captain and Professor looked to see Harry standing at the doorway, wand pointed at Quirrell. He had a shocked yet determined look on his face, and his wand was shaking.

"Potter!" Toshiro exclaimed.

"Toshiro, what happened? I thought you were behind Ron."

"It's Hitusgaya - and I was knocked away. I don't know what-"

"It was me," Quirrell broke in, glaring at The-Boy-Who-Lived. "I wanted to talk with him alone. But now I've discovered that he's useless in getting the Stone, but I have a feeling you'll be different."

Toshiro quickly backed away, and pulled his wand from his boot. "Back away from the mirror, Quirrell," he ordered, using the tone he used when speaking to prisoners. "Give up, and tell the other person to give up as well."

"Other person?" Harry echoed, looking to Toshiro.

"Foolish boy..." Harry jumped, and his eyes went wide. "Let me speak to them...face-to-face..."

"Master, you are not strong enough!"

"I have strength enough...for this..."

They watched in fascinated horror as Quirrell reached up and began to unwrap his turban. It soon fell away, and Quirrell slowly turned on the spot. If he'd been anyone else, Toshiro's mouth would have dropped open. As it was, he didn't move, staring at the pasty white face on the back of Quirrell's head. It had glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake.

"You are _ugly_ ," Toshiro blurted out, seeing Harry press a hand against his forehead, where the lightning-shaped scar was. The angry eyes flicked to him.

"I do not know...what you are...but I would like you for study..." Toshiro shuddered, reminded horribly and suddenly of Kurotshuchi.

"What are you?"

"Voldemort," Harry whispered suddenly, voice tight. "It's Voldemort. But how...?"

"That's right, boy," the face laughed. "See what I have become? Mere shadow and vapor...I have form only when I can share another's body...but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds...Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks...you saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the forest..." Here it glanced at Toshiro then returned its gaze to Harry. "And once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own...Now...why don't you go to the mirror and give me the Stone?"

"Not a chance," Harry replied, tightening the grip on his wand. "I'm not going to let you have it."

"Very well then...I shall force you to get it for me..." Without warning, Quirrell suddenly sprang at Harry, too fast for the boy to move out of the way.

Luckily for Harry, he wasn't alone.

Toshiro shot a spell at the Quirrell/Voldemort hybrid, knocking him - it? they? - out of the way. He landed on his feet, glaring at the Captain. In order to move, Quirrell was now facing the front, and was getting yelled at by Voldemort to move and _kill them_!

 _Fat chance,_ Toshiro thought, jumping aside and launching another spell. _There's two of us and one of him. Well, two of them, but one body. So, one and a half?_

 _"Focus, Master!"_

They continued to fight, mostly Toshiro and Quirrell with Harry throwing in a few spells here and there. It seemed like it was going well, until Toshiro stepped backwards and his foot slipped down a stair.

Now, this action wouldn't normally be too bad, but it distracted him, and with that distraction, Quirrell leaped, grabbing him by his neck and pinning him down. "Got you," he and Voldemort whispered.

Toshiro struggled, but Quirrell's hands were tightening around his throat, cutting off his oxygen, and was keeping his wand hand down. He was stuck. He struggled to draw breath, but black spots were splattering across his vision, and he could feel himself getting weaker.

Was this really how he was going to die - again? Such a pathetic way against an opponent who was much stronger than he should be? He was a _Captain_ , he shouldn't-

He was suddenly weightless. Little shards of stone hailed his body, and he squeezed his eyes shut to protect them. Gravity took over, and he felt himself slam against something solid. He fell to the ground and curled up in a little ball, taking quick, shallow breaths. When the ringing in his ears stopped, he opened his eyes and saw that he was lying against one of the side walls. The stone in front of the mirror - which was untouched - was broken up, and scattered all across the room were the chunks. Harry was still standing on the other side, wand raised, and staring at something to Toshiro's left.

Quirrell.

The Professor was painfully getting to his feet, brushing the stone off him. "Fool," he hissed, glaring at Harry. "I have been made stronger my merge with my master, and by drinking the blood of unicorns. Did you really think you could kill me with something like that?"

"No, but I could help Toshiro." Harry made eye contact with the other boy, who was sitting up. He said, "I'll take it from here."

Toshiro replied, "Don't get killed, Potter."

Quirrell lunged. Harry cast a spell. Quirrell shook it off and kept coming. He latched onto Harry's arm.

He flinched back with a pained cry.

There was silence for a few moments as all tried to figure out what had just happened. Harry stood uncertainly on one of the stairs; Quirrell stood nearby nursing his hand, which appeared burned: raw, red, and shiny; and Toshiro was leaning against the wall, holding his ribs - he thought he'd cracked a couple. Damn this gigai. It was so weak!

"I can't touch him," Quirrell whispered, probably to Voldemort, as the face replied in a screech.

"Then kill him, fool, and be done!"

Quirrell hesitated then lunged at Harry, who appeared to make a split second decision and cast aside his wand. He fell when Quirrell reached him, and latched onto his arm. Smoke rose from where they touched, and Quirrell screamed, long and high, but Harry didn't let go. Instead he put his other hand over the teacher's face. Quirrell writhed, his scream almost unbearably high, but Harry wasn't letting go. Perhaps he couldn't. His face was contorted, and looked like he was in pain.

Toshiro started to go over - he could help - but someone got there before he could do anything.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: All rights for Harry Potter/Bleach go to their respective owners.**

* * *

Quirrell was wrenched off Harry, who had gone limp. He rolled away and curled in on himself, still whimpering pathetically. Toshiro stood still and silent as the newcomer looked over Harry.

"He will be fine, but I will take him to Madam Pomfrey."

Toshiro let out a breath he hadn't even known he was holding. "Why are you here?" He tried to keep his tone respectful, but between his aching ribs and pounding headache, he wasn't really in a mood for formalities.

"I heard from Professor McGonagall that you four had heard about the Stone. From there, it was not hard to figure out what you would do. Despite what you all seem to think, I will not let students die needlessly. Thus, I came." Snape peered over at him. "Did you get the Stone?"

Toshiro had never had the Golden Trio's distrust of the man, so he shook his head. "No. Quirrell seemed to think it is in the mirror. Is that true?"

"Yes. Dumbledore placed it there himself." Snape looked him over. "I sent Weasley and Granger back up. Neither was injured too badly. And you?"

"I'm fine," Toshiro said. He could heal his ribs later.

"Then let us leave this place." Snape knelt next to Harry and slipped one arm under his shoulders so the boy was leaning against him. "You both need to get back."

Toshiro followed the Professor as they made their way out of the room.

* * *

Summer was here. Summer was _definitely_ here.

Toshiro sat by the open window, glaring out at the world. He wanted to lower the room's temperature, but there were other people inside, and it would raise questions that he didn't want to avoid. He already got pestered enough by the whole school wanting to know what happened down in the chamber. He had a scowl on his face - one that would ward off curious students, but he heard two sets of footsteps approach.

"Toshiro, Harry's woken up. You want to go see him?"

"For the hundredth time, Weasley, it is _Hitsugaya_ , not Toshiro."

"Whatever mate; we're both kids."

"I am not a child."

Ron threw up his hands and turned to Hermione. "Do you want to come, Hitsugaya," she said with a pointed look at Ron.

"Yes. Madam Pomfrey has been bugging me to go in, anyway. Two birds, one stone." He hopped off the windowsill, pleased that his ribs didn't protest. After Snape had transported them all back up to the school, he'd brought them into the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey had rushed around tending to Harry and Ron. Toshiro had tried to leave, but she insisted on looking him over, and soon found his cracked ribs. Now he was forced to let them heal at a human's pace - but at least the wizards were faster.

They arrived to find Madam Pomfrey saying that they would get _five minutes, and nothing more_! Going inside, Harry told them the story of what had happened (Toshiro had already told them, but they apparently wanted to hear it again). During the entire story, Toshiro was glaring disdainfully at the mountainous pile of candy boxes on the table by Harry's bed.

 _Children._

"The whole school's talking about it," Ron said, and shot a glare at Toshiro. " _Someone_ wouldn't tell them."

"They have better things to do than gossip," the Captain said, sitting on the next bed over. He was irritated to find that his feet didn't touch the ground.

"Actually, no, we don't," the red-head answered. "Exams are over." They finally got back on topic when he made them get off it again. Seriously, he reminded Toshiro of Abarai Renji. "So the Stone's gone? Flamel's just going to die?"

"That's what I said," Harry answered. "But Dumbledore thinks that - what was it? - 'to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great advenutre.'"

Toshiro snorted; they looked back at him. "He is one smart old man," he said. In truth, Toshiro was probably older than the headmaster, but they didn't need to know that.

"D'you think he meant you to do it?" Ron asked. "Sending you your father's cloak and everything?"

" _Well_ ," Hermione exploded. "If he did - I mean to say - that's terrible - you could have been killed."

"No, it isn't," Harry said thoughtfully.

"Yes, it is," Toshiro cut in.

Harry shook his head in exasperation. "Whatever."

Then Madam Pomfrey bustled over. "You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT! _Not_ you, Mr. Hitsugaya!"

* * *

Toshiro was cleared by the nurse not long after. He couldn't get out of there fast enough. However, he had a Captain's meeting to attend by phone. Wonderful. Just wonderful.

To avoid any confusion, he went out to a private spot by the lake, waiting for the call. When it came, he immediately flipped it open.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro, Captain of Squad 10."

"Captain Hitsugaya, we are going to keep this short. Captain Kurotshuchi would like to know if you got the Sorcerer's Stone."

Toshiro shook his head, then remembered that they couldn't see him. "Am I on speaker?"

There was a moment of silence. Then: "Speaker?"

Toshiro was hit with a sudden realization. "So _that's_ why no one could understand each other last time. This makes _so_ much more sense."

"What is your point?" The Head-Captain's tone was clearly annoyed. Toshiro held back a snicker, amused that the old man didn't know how to work the Soul Phone.

"I'll tell you how to turn on speaker phone..."

Several minutes later, after going over the directions _five times_ , the Head-Captain _finally_ managed to set the phone on speaker.

"Now then, Captain Kurotshuchi, I did not get the Stone. I believe it's still stuck in the mirror."

"What?" Mayuri's voice was just as scratchy as every. "Are you such an incompetent fool that you could not complete such a _simple_ task as retrieving a _rock_?! What kind of Captain are you?!"

"You try begging a mirror to cough up a Stone while dodging wayward spells from an over-dramatic eleven year-old wielding a deadly wand _and_ a two-faced vampire with a murderous inclination. I was just tad distracted."

Silence. It was quiet for so long that Toshiro checked his phone to make sure it was still working.

"Would you repeat that, Captain?" The Head-Captain sounded confused.

"Of course. I was in a room with a child, a man with two faces, and a broken mirror with the Sorcerer's Stone magically implanted inside. The back of the man's head was screaming for its host to kill both of us, the child was burning the man to death, the man was trying to get away, and I saw nothing in the mirror. Therefore, I couldn't get the Stone out of it."

He was quite enjoying himself, and had several more versions ready to go. All they had to do was ask. Oh, how he hoped they did.

"Are you drunk?"

Oh well.

* * *

The Great Hall was over-embellished in green and silver to represent the Slytherin house winning the House Cup for the seventh time in a row. A giant banner with the Slytherin serpent was hanging behind the head table. With the exception of Slytherin, the other houses were quiet, mourning their loss and the end of the school year.

 _Why are they upset about the year ending?_ Toshiro wondered. _They don't have to do homework anymore._

 _"Or paperwork,"_ Hyourinmaru laughed, and Toshiro nodded, reminded of the stacks of paperwork that Matsumoto had sent him throughout the year. He'd done most of it in History of Magic.

Toshiro was seated next to Ron and Hermione during the dinner, listening silently to the conversations around him. Most were talking about their plans for summer. He heard one kid was going to the States, one was going to a water park, and another was traveling to the Himalayas and hiking around. One asked him what his plans were. He set his cup of tea down to answer.

"I am going home and making sure that a certain person didn't allow everyone to become raging alcoholics and destroy everything. If they have, they will go through detox and then training. I hope they make it out alive."

He really did enjoy these answers.

It was quiet around him. Then Ron said - with a mouthful of potatoes, mind you - "You're one dark little dude; you know that, right, Toshiro?"

"I am not little, you are not to call me 'dude' or 'Toshiro', you _will_ address me by my last name _only_ , and for goodness sake - _swallow before you talk_!"

For some reason this made the others laugh. He glared at the blushing Weasley, and took another sip of tea. Finally Hermione calmed enough to ask another question. "We've known each other the whole year, but I don't think you've ever really talked about your home. Would you tell us about it now?"

Toshiro set down his tea again, thoughtfully. It couldn't hurt, right? It wasn't as if he was going to reveal everything, and besides, he was never going to see these people again - unless they met in Soul Society. But they wouldn't remember him, so what was the harm?

Toshiro decided to tell them. He was bored, and he found that he enjoyed twisting the truth to make others confused and - if possible - afraid of him. "I come from Japan, obviously, and I don't know my parents. They died when I was little, and I was taken in by a woman that I call my Grandmother, but she is not related to me. I was raised with another girl, and she...we don't do much together anymore. A friend - whom I mentioned earlier - is constantly getting drunk, trying to suffocate me, and _never_ does her paperwork, but I wouldn't trade her in for anyone."

There it was - there were the blank stares and frowns of bewildered puzzlement that he loved so much. He decided to continue.

"There is a man there - he's old, lonely, and ill - who always gives me candy. A younger girl with pink hair is a menace; she's always wanting to 'play'. We try not to anger her adoptive father...he's been known to chase people with his sword. Then there's a crazy scientist who wants to bisect me, an old man with a crazy-long beard, a woman with an unnatural obsession with a cat, a healer who is even more deadly than the guy with the sword...there's also a man with hair rivaling the Weasley's red."

"Jeez...I'm surprised you haven't run away," Ron said, mouth hanging open. Toshiro glared at him - he _still_ hadn't swallowed. "That sounds like bloody hell."

"Oh, it's not so bad," Toshiro shook his head. "Most of the time no one's trying to kill anyone. Except for Zaraki...he's always challenging me to a duel..."

"You mentioned a sword," another boy - Toshiro couldn't remember his name - jumped in. "Do you have one?"

Toshiro nodded. "Yes. And I know how to use it."

"Would you teach me?"

Toshiro stared at the boy, making him squirm with his piercing turquoise eyes. "I wouldn't be able to bring a sword onto campus, and if you get killed, that just means more paperwork."

"O...kay..."

"Hey, guys," a new person said in the sudden lull, sliding into a seat besides Toshiro. "What's going on?"

"Toshiro doesn't want to teach Seamus how to use a sword because he's afraid of paperwork."

"I'm not afraid of it," Toshiro protested. "And it's Hitsugaya!"

Harry shook his head. "I think I missed something."

"Just a tad," Ron said.

Just then, the entire Hall quieted and their attention was drawn up to the front. Dumbledore was standing behind the golden podium of the owl, hands raised to get their attention. "Another year gone!" he said cheerfully. "What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were...you have the whole summer to get them nice and empty before next year starts...

"Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

The Slytherins broke out into cheers and started stamping. Toshiro just wanted Dumbledore to hurry up; the sooner he finished, the sooner he could go home. Well, not really, but time just seemed to crawl when the Headmaster was making speeches. Also, with so many people, the Hall was hot and stuffy, and he wanted nothing more than to go and sit by the cool window...

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," Dumbledore said, giving them a nod. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

The Slytherins went abruptly still. Every single person in attendance was focused on Dumbledore and his next words.

"Ahem. I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes...First - to Mr. Ronald Weasley...for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house forty points."

The Gryffindors started cheering, Percy was bragging to anyone near that _his_ brother got past McGonagall's giant chess set, and Toshiro turned to Hermione. "So, he gets points for playing chess, but not any for his bravery or self-sacrifice? No wonder Slytherin always wins - they obviously know how to play the game."

The witch shrugged. "Does it really matter? Dumbledore's giving us points!"

"Second," Dumbledore continued once the students settled down again. "Second - to Miss Hermione Granger...for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house forty points."

Hermione buried her face in her arms while their fellow lions jumped up and down - they were up eighty points!

"Third - to Mr. Toshiro Hitsugaya-" Toshiro's eye twitched at the pronunciation. "For his skill and prowess, I award Gryffindor house twenty points."

 _Well, he obviously doesn't like me very much,_ Toshiro thought idly even as people around him clapped him on the back. _And if they touch me again, I swear blood will be shed._

"Fourth - to Mr. Harry Potter..." At this the Hall became very quiet. Toshiro looked over and saw the Slytherins were turning shades close to their house color. "For pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."

Toshiro mentally did the math while ignoring the din around him. They had four hundred and seventy-two points - equal to Slytherin.

Finally Dumbledore raised a hand, and the room gradually fell silent. "There are all kinds of courage," he said, voice rumbling through the room. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

Toshiro had the foresight to put a muffling spell around him. Just as well he did, or his hearing would never have been the same. If someone had been standing outside, they might have thought an explosion had taken place, so loud were the Gryffindors. He glared at them all, clapping politely and watching as Neville was dog-piled by excited students.

"Which means," Dumbledore called over the noise. "We need a little change of decoration."

With a clap of his hands, the green and silver hangings became scarlet and gold, and the Slytherin serpent was replaced with a towering Gryffindor lion. Toshiro saw a clearly pissed Snape shaking hands with a beaming McGonagall, and cast a sympathetic glance at the heartbroken Slytherins. They really were getting gypped.

He said this to Hermione, who yelled back: "Whatever! We won! We won!"

Toshiro shook his head. Clearly no one was thinking sensibly tonight. They obviously wouldn't settle down for bed, which meant he was in for a night of rowdy children partying the night away.

Oh well. He'd had plenty of practice dealing with a drunk Rangiku. He could handle a couple dozen children.

Right?

Wrong.

Oh, was he wrong.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: All rights for Bleach/Harry Potter go to their respective owners.**

* * *

In light of the party, every student had forgotten that the exam scores were going to be passed out the next day, but the teachers never forgot. No, at breakfast the next morning they were waiting with scrolls of parchment to hand out. As he was first into the Great Hall - as usual - Toshiro received his scores first.

"Just between us," McGonagall whispered as she handed him his scroll. "You scored the best of all students in most of the years. Very, very well done."

Toshiro accepted the praise with a nod. He was used to this type of thing. Going through the Academy in one year made you less sensitive to praise, especially ones related to grades. He was labeled a prodigy, after all.

To his surprise, Harry and Ron both managed to scrape by with good marks. He had thought for sure that they would fail at _least_ Potions. Hermione got the second best score in their year - shocker. Even Malfoy's bodyguard Goyle had passed. Oh well. For all they knew, he could suffer some sort of surprised attack upon seeing his grades and die - not that Toshiro wanted it to happen. Of course not.

The last day of school rapidly approached, and before they knew it, their trunks were packed, their owls were in their cages, and they'd finally managed to find Neville's toad, Trevor, lurking in a corner of the toilets. All students received notes that reminded them not to use magic over the summer. Toshiro neatly folded his and dropped it into a trash can - there was no way they could trace magic to Soul Society.

Like they had arrived, the first-years were taken across the lake in boats with Hagrid, and boarded the train. Toshiro supposed it was supposed to be symbolic, and as he watched the castle recede into the distance, he felt a strange stirring in his chest. After mulling it over with Hyourinmaru for a few minutes, they concluded that it was sorrow. He was going to miss Hogwarts, and the lighthearted relief that it provided. Strange. That didn't usually happen on missions. Oh well. He'd get over it.

Toshiro cast his mind forward, thinking of what he would have to do once back in Soul Society. Make a report - the Head-Captain would want that first, greet his division and inspect them, visit Hinamori - strictly professional, of course - and do some training. It had been too long since he'd been able to go all out. He nodded firmly. That was a plan.

The students boarded the train to go back to London; students laughed and snacked on candy and watched the scenery race past. Toshiro changed into human clothes early on - there was absolutely no way he was going to let any Shinigami see him in the ridiculous Hogwarts uniform. Toshiro sat in a compartment with the Golden Trio, but mostly sat by the window and stroked Athena. The owl had grown a little over the year, but was still small.

 _"Like you,"_ Hyourinmaru snickered.

 _"Oh, shut up!"_

The train ride seemed all too fast and slow at the same time. They got off the train to find a noisy station filled with waiting relatives. As they waited in the long queue to exit the platform - an old wizard was letting them out slowly so they didn't all come at once and startle the Muggles - Ron told the three that they had to come stay with him over the summer.

"I'll send you all owls," he said. Toshiro nodded along with the others, but was silently thinking that they would never see him again. He said nothing, however; he didn't need them asking unnecessary questions.

"Thanks," Harry said. "I'll need something to look forward to."

As they were jostled through the portal into the Muggle world, Toshiro heard people calling out to Harry.

"Bye, Harry!"

"See you, Potter!"

"Still famous," Ron grinned at Harry.

"Not where I'm going, I promise you," Harry responded flatly.

They weren't walking for long before they heard a young girl's voice yelling. "There he is, Mom, there he is, look!" All four followed the sound of the voice to see Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, but she wasn't pointing at Ron. No, why would she take notice of her brother? She had honed in on Harry.

"You've got an admirer," Toshiro muttered, low enough that Ron couldn't hear, but Harry could. He blushed a red rivaling Ron's hair and stuttered out something unintelligible.

"Harry Potter!" said little girl squealed, practically jumping up and down in her excitement. "Look, Mom! I can see-"

"Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point."

The plump woman smiled down at them. "Busy year?"

"Certainly," Toshiro said, but she didn't hear him as Harry replied at the same time. And who would listen to the short kid when the Boy-Who-Lived talked? Toshiro didn't really blame her for ignoring him; she probably didn't even do it on purpose.

"Very. Thanks for the fudge and the sweater, Mrs. Weasley."

"Oh, it was nothing, dear."

 _I didn't get a sweater,_ Toshiro grumbled to himself and possibly Hyourinmaru if the ice dragon was listening.

He was. _"Would you have even worn it, Master?"_

 _"Probably not. I don't like being warm anyway, thank you very much."_

He just knew the dragon was shrugging. _"Then you shouldn't be jealous."_

 _"I'm not jealous!"_

 _"I am part of your soul, Master; I can tell what you are feeling at all times."_

 _"...That's kind of creepy."_

 _"Who am I going to tell? It's just you and me here."_

 _"Good point."_

Toshiro tuned back in to find that three other people were standing nearby. He studied them. The first, a pudgy man with a slightly purple face and a greasy mustache, was closest, though he looked furious. He was glaring at Harry's owl...Hedwig, Toshiro finally remembered. Behind him stood an alarmingly thin woman about his age, and an alarmingly overweight boy a little older than Harry. Both looked terrified of something.

Toshiro wondered at them, then realized who they were. Harry's Uncle Vernon, his Aunt Petunia, and his cousin Dudley. Toshiro vaguely remembered Harry complaining about them. Apparently they hated him and made him sleep in a cupboard under the stairs...well that wasn't so bad. Kuchiki Rukia slept in Kurosaki Ichigo's closet whenever she was in Karakura town.

"You must be Harry's family!" Mrs. Weasley said cheerfully.

"In a manner of speaking," the man said. "Hurry up, boy, we haven't got all day." With that, he turned and walked away. Harry hung back to have a final word with Ron, Hermione, and Toshiro.

"See you over the summer, then."

"Hope you have - er - a good holiday," Hermione said awkwardly, clearly wondering how someone could be so unpleasant, especially to family.

"Oh, I will," Harry said, a grin spreading across his face. " _They_ don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer..."

"Don't kill them," Toshiro said immediately, drawing their curious looks and forcing him to elaborate. "Think of the paperwork."

They laughed, Harry said good-bye and headed off with his relatives, dragging his trunk and owl. The remaining three watched him go, then turned back. "My family's over there," Hermione said, gesturing towards a plain looking couple watching them from across the station. "I've got to go. Write every day - you hear?"

"Sure," Ron laughed. "If our owl can handle that much flying."

Toshiro felt strangely bad that he was lying to them. Weird. "Yeah," he said, trailing off. They looked at him curiously.

"What's the matter, Toshiro?" Ron asked.

"It's Hitsugaya." He immediately said the automatic response, but it lacked the proverbial fire that it usually contained. "It's nothing...I'll see you next year."

"Bye!" Ron clapped him on the shoulder, in the awkward way that boys were. "See you next year!"

"Yeah, I can't wait to see you again!" Hermione hugged him, and he hesitantly returned the gesture. Of course that had to be the moment that his worst nightmare came along.

"Captain, I - you're hugging a girl! Oh, you have a girlfriend! Good for you!"

Toshiro immediately pulled away from Hermione, both blushing. He turned to glare at his grinning Vice-Captain. "She is not my girlfriend," he growled. "You are _not_ to spread that rumor."

"Like that worked before." She linked her fingers behind her head and smirked. "By the way, Captain Kuchiki wants to kill you."

"What'd you do?" he sighed, ignoring the confused looks from his friends.

 _"Oh, so you think of them as friends now? That's good."_

 _"Be silent, you overgrown lizard!"_

 _"Ah, don't be so harsh! You know you love me. Come on, admit it. You love me, don't you? Go on, say it. Say it, Master, say it."_

Toshiro attempted to ignore his zanpakuto spirit and focus on Rangiku's words. If Byakuya wanted to kill him, he ought to know why. "Well, everyone thinks that he's a father..." Toshiro groaned. "And also because of you some think he made the children through mitosis, but that's just one of the theories."

"And who do I have to thank for spreading these rumors?" He looked pointedly at Rangiku. The smirk grew wider.

"I'm shocked and appalled that you think _I_ would do such things. Really, Captain, do you have such little faith in-"

"Spit it out, Matsumoto!"

"The guards at the Captains' meeting overheard," she said quickly. "It wasn't me, I swear!"

Toshiro sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Damn..."

"Wait, so _this_ is Matsumoto?" Ron suddenly interjected, looking between the Captain and Vice-Captain. She looked back curiously.

"Yes, I am Rangiku Matsumoto, as you would say it. Do I know you?"

"No, but Toshiro always yells at you in gobbledygook whenever you send him packages."

"It's Hitsugaya! And Japanese," Toshiro muttered, but Rangiku suddenly tackled him in a hug.

"Oh, Captain! It's so good to see you again! How are you? How was going back to school?"

"Don't change the subject," he growled, wriggling out of her grasp. "If I find the office filled with papers, I _will_ freeze you to your chair until you finish them!"

"Captain! Don't have so little faith in me!"

"Are they done, then?"

"Well..."

"Matsumoto..."

"There may be a _little_..."

"Argh!" he took her by the hand and started dragging her away.

Behind them, Mr. Weasley was watching them go. "Lucky kid," he muttered. Mrs. Weasley whacked him on the back of the head.

* * *

Toshiro dragged Rangiku to an alley where no one could see them. Rangiku immediately commented on this fact. "Most guys would love to be alone with me," she giggled, but he glared at her and opened a Senkaimon. Two Hell Butterflies fluttered out.

"I'm not most guys. Now come on."

"No, you're not. Captain, are you gay?"

"What? No!"

"Oh, you don't have to be shy about it! It's okay! I mean, you've never shown any interest in girls, and you're always mad when I hug you-"

"What makes you think I don't show any interest in girls?" They were walking through the Precipice World, following the Butterflies. Rangiku suddenly stopped.

" _Do_ you?"

"Sure. You must not notice the signs."

She squealed and tackle-hugged him from behind. "Oh, you have signs?! I can't _believe_ I've missed them! So, who is it? Is it Hinamori? I bet it is. You two act all awkward around each other - oh! Is that your sign?"

Toshiro ignored her rambling, regretting immensely about telling her this. "Oh, be quiet," he said finally. "We're here."

* * *

A month after his mission, and everything had finally settled down. After arriving in Soul Society, Toshiro had dropped his gigai off at the twelfth, then gone back to his division to find them lined up to greet him back. He cast a suspicious glance at Rangiku, but bowed back to them. Then he'd drawn up his report, which took a considerable amount more time than he thought it would.

After several days of hard training, he was content that he was back where he had begun his mission. All his pent-up energy had been released, to the terror of his division.

 _*Flashback*_

 _Toshiro stood alone in the center of the tenth's training grounds. He'd finished all his paperwork - and had been pleasantly surprised to find that Rangiku hadn't left him much at all. Now it was time to train._

 _He rolled his shoulders and stretched his muscles. When he was warmed up, he drew Hyourinmaru from the sheath on his back. At first he trained with just zanjutsu, without Shikai or Bankai. Unknown to him, his reiatsu was rising more than he normally let it during training. His division largely ignored it, as they knew he was training, but then he went Shikai, and it exploded up to that level. Some started to avoid the training grounds, fearing that they would be caught in his reiatsu or the ice that inevitably came with it._

 _After a while of training in Shikai, he noticed that he still had vast excesses of spiritual energy, so he went Bankai. This is where things went wrong._

 _The wings of ice spread from his back, a long tail wound down, his right arm was encased in ice and ending in a small version of Hyourinmaru's head, and his left arm and legs were also covered in ice and ending in claws and talons. His spiritual pressure now crashed down around him, and the few Shinigami nearby paled or went to their knees._

 _The only reason why Shinigami weren't rushing to his position to find out why his reiatsu was so high was because it lacked that sharp edge of battle that was always present when Shinigami fought. As it was, they became nervous and looked over in his direction, uncomfortable with a Captain's reiatsu being so high, even if it was just training._

 _Fortunately, it seemed that the little Captain realized this and came out of Bankai, almost guiltily. He looked around at the ice-covered training grounds, and thought,_ I need to go somewhere they can't be affected by this. _So he did. Toshiro trained in a cave away from Seiretei until his excess reserves of reiatsu had burned off._

 _When he came back to the division, people were standing around the training fields, wondering what to do about the ice. Toshiro made a few jump as he dropped out of shunpo behind them and said: "We won't have a drought here for a while, at least."_

 _The ice didn't melt for a long time. Toshiro was in no way inclined to let it do so. Summer had come, and he was doing his best to reign in his grouchiness, but it was just so damn hard with the heat! So, he spent a lot of time out on his field of ice doing his paperwork._

 _*End_ Flashback*

This was where you could currently find the child Captain: on his frozen training grounds doing paperwork. He'd built himself a little chair and desk of ice, then erected an icy ceiling above him held up by four posts so he could sit in the shade. He discovered that he liked this, and decided he'd be doing this more often in the summer.

It also amused him greatly to see his subordinates slipping and sliding on the ice trying to reach him. He was near the edge, but they still had to cross several feet of ice to get to his desk. At last he took pity on them and melted a small pathway to and from his desk. They appreciated this, and were happier still when they found he was much less grumpy when surrounded by ice.

In short, this arrangement made everyone happy with the exception of Rangiku, perhaps. But forget her, Toshiro wasn't biting everyone's heads off! The division was happy!

This happiness came crashing down after he'd spent four weeks back in Soul Society.

He was working at his desk of ice when a small, brown and white owl swooped down to perch on the edge of his desk. She dropped a paper and hooted softly. "Thanks, Athena," Toshiro said, picking up the paper.

He'd started using Athena instead of Hell Butterflies when he had returned to Soul Society if he had unimportant messages. It seemed to amuse everyone, and the Head-Captain hadn't said anything, so why not? It kept her happy and exercised. Win-win.

Toshiro opened the paper and read it. He picked up his sword and strapped it on.

* * *

The Head-Captain was filling out papers in his office when he heard a knock. He called for the person to come in, as he knew who it was. "Captain Hitsugaya, thank you for coming on such short notice."

"It is no problem," the child-Captain replied, bowing. The Head-Captain noticed that the owl was on his left shoulder. It surveyed him with coal gray eyes.

Hitsugaya seemed to be dealing better with the heat this summer. He hadn't heard as many horror stories from the tenth. Perhaps it was the field of ice that he had created. In any case, it seemed to be doing him good.

"I called you here because I have a mission for you."

"Again?" The Head-Captain was sure that the question surprised even the little Captain, as the boy looked down at the floor. The Head-Captain nodded.

"Only you can do this mission."

He saw Hitsugaya's eyebrows draw together. "What is it?"

The Head-Captain took a deep breath. If Hitsugaya was going to get angry, it was now. "It is long...back to England."

Hitsugaya's eye twitched. The Head-Captain found that quite amusing, although he didn't show it. "May I ask why I am going back?"

This was going better than he thought it would. "We have reviewed your reports and determined that, while the wizarding world as a whole is not a threat to us, this one 'Dark Lord', also known as Voldemort, _is_ a threat. You are to aide the wizards and witches for as long as it takes to defeat him."

Again Hitsugaya's eye twitched. Clearly the little Captain was annoyed, but was keeping it under control. "And this means going back to Hogwarts as a student?"

The Head-Captain nodded.

Hitsugaya took a breath. "Yes, sir." The boy must not have known it, but he sounded a little sulky there. Being in a school full of children must have worn off on him. The Head-Captain felt the corners of his mouth twitch up in a gentle smile. Perhaps this mission would do him good.

"You will be getting a letter from the school soon. You are to leave the morning after you receive it and gather all your things for your second year. Go to Captain Kurotshuchi - he will help you prepare."

"Yes, sir."

"That is all. Oh, try to have fun."

Twitch. "Yes, sir."

The Head-Captain watched him exit his office. Yes, the mission would do him good.

* * *

 **Fin.**

 **The last chapter! I'm so sad...except that I'll be posting the first chapter of the second book soon. :) It will be called Year 2: The Chamber of Delightful Coolness. Regular posting time. MONDAY, OCTOBER 5.**

 **Also, thank you everyone who has reviewed, read, followed, favorited, etc. You are all amazing! I hope that you'll all check out my next story, mentioned above. Now that I'm used to writing like this, it should be better.**

 **See you then!**


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